


Our Little Corner of the World, Volume 2

by Ultra



Series: The Runaways 'Verse [14]
Category: Gilmore Girls
Genre: Anniversary, Awkward Conversations, Beginnings, Birthday, Childhood, Children, Choices, College, Complicated Relationships, Decisions, Drama, F/M, Family, Family Drama, Family Dynamics, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Family Issues, First Time, Friendship, Future, Gen, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Growing Old Together, Growing Up, Happy Ending, High School, Love, Parent-Child Relationship, Past, Sex, Teenagers, University, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-10
Updated: 2017-11-10
Packaged: 2019-05-26 03:08:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 35,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14991449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ultra/pseuds/Ultra
Summary: A second collection of one-shots showing various moments throughout the lives of Rory, Jess, Jack, Tori, Luke, Lorelai, Billy, Liz, TJ, Doula, Lane, Zack, Steve, Kwan, Sookie, Jackson, Davey, Martha, Jaime, Emily, Richard, April, Dax, Alex, Tara, Paris, Doyle, Eva, Jonathan, et al.





	1. Drunk and Disorderly - 16th November 2024

When the knock came on the door, Jack fought to tear himself away from his book to go and answer it. Nobody else was home. If he ignored it, it wasn’t as if anybody would know or care. Two of his suite mates, Andy and Mike, were hanging out in their girlfriend's rooms today, whilst Tom had been up and out early as usual and still wasn't back yet. Jack was grateful for the peace and quiet, truth be told. He had been trying to find the time to get to the end of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest all week and now seemed like his best shot. He could’ve done without a distraction, but whoever was at the door wasn’t giving up.

“Fine,” he muttered. “I’m coming.”

Opening the door, he found a girl on the other side, looking startled. He realised belatedly that she had given up knocking and was starting to write something on the whiteboard before he opened the door. So far she had only gotten as far as his name, which didn’t exactly surprise Jack. After all, he had met this girl before.

“Hey,” she greeted him now with too big a smile. “Jack Mariano, right? You probably don’t remember me.”

“The mysterious red-head who threw herself on top of me at a party last night? Nope, don’t remember you at all,” he said, barely containing the smirk that was determined to come to his lips.

The girl blushed almost as red as her hair then. Jack might have felt bad for her, except it really wasn’t his fault. She was the one who got drunk and kissed him all out of the blue. He was the gentleman who refused her advances and returned her to her friends, uninjured and unsullied.

“Anyway,” said the stranger, “I wanted to come by and apologise for my awful behaviour. I’m really not that girl. Y’know, the one who gets so drunk that she just throws herself at anyone. Not that you’re anyone,” she back-tracked. “I mean, you’re a great guy, I’m sure. If I knew you, which of course I don’t.”

Jack leaned against the door jamb and just watched her a moment whilst she got herself into a muddle of words and went off on at least three tangents. He came from a family of ramblers. His mother and grandmother, even himself and moreso his sister had a tendency towards that kind of thing, but this girl was a whole other level. So far he had heard her mention Chinese politics, the Moulin Rouge, and Marvel’s X-Men, and that was just the parts he could catch.

“Hey, Cassandra Cillian! You might wanna stop before you give yourself the brain-overload nose-bleed,” he urged her.

“I’m sorry,” she apologised, shaking her head and pulling a much needed breath through her lungs. “I get caught up sometimes,” she admitted. “Anyway, my name is actually Amanda - Mandy, most people call me Mandy - and I just want you to know that I’m sorry I made a fool out of the both of us last night, and also thank you, for being such a knight in shining armour, Cary Grant type. Not a lot of guys around here would be that decent.”

“It’s fine, and you’re welcome,” said Jack, trying to continue in that gentlemanly behaviour she was so grateful to him for. “Honestly? You made a boring party a little more interesting,” he admitted.

“That’s one way of looking at it,” Mandy considered, though she didn’t look altogether comfortable about her behaviour still. “Um, I’m sorry, again. I should probably go, leave you in peace.”

“Probably,” he agreed, nodding his head.

It wasn’t that he wanted her to go away. She was actually kind of attractive now he saw her sober, though he would hazard a guess she looked even better when she wasn’t nursing a hangover, or at the very least the remnants of one this late in the day. From what he had seen of her so far, he liked her well enough. It also didn’t hurt that he already knew she really, really knew how to kiss, even when she was three sheets to the wind and then some. It made Jack wonder why exactly he was letting her walk away right now. It made him doubly glad when she turned back before she reached the corner.

“So, this is probably the craziest idea I ever had,” she said, coming back to the open doorway, “at least when I’m sober anyway, but is there any chance that you maybe want to go out sometime? With me, I mean.”

Jack hoped he wasn’t blushing. He felt like maybe he might if he wasn’t careful and prayed that through her semi-hangover daze Mandy might not notice if it did happen. The lighting wasn’t great anyway, it would probably be fine.

“You’re asking me out?” he checked. “That’s progressive.”

“It’s 2024, man,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Progressive would be asking out a guy that used to be a girl or something.”

“Guess I have some old-fashioned values.” Jack shrugged. “Comes from being raised in Stars Hollow, I guess.”

“Stars Hollow?” said Mandy, eyes lighting up just a little. “You live in that cute little place? My cousin lived there for a while. Small world, huh?”

“Apparently.” Jack nodded. “Uh, just checking, her name isn’t Alison, is it?” he asked, getting a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“Nope, his name is Scott,” she explained. “Why’d you ask that?”

“Kind of a long story. Which I guess I could tell you sometime, when we go out.”

If he thought her face lit up before, Jack had been very wrong. At the sound of his acceptance to her offer of a date, only then did Mandy’s face really seem to be aglow with joy as she grinned at him.

“Cool, then it’s a date. Like an actual date, on which I will be sober, or at least no more drunk than you are,” she amended, before thinking about it some. “I mean, we might drink, but not to the excess that I did last night, because that was... Well, there’s a long story there too.”

“Then we’ll swap long stories,” Jack told her. “Maybe Friday?”

“Friday would be great,” she told him. “You have your cell? I’ll give you my number.”

Jack pulled the phone from his pocket and handed it over, watching as Mandy typed in her name and number. She really was no hardship to look at, and she seemed like a barrel of monkeys to be around. He never had been asked out like this before, but he kind of liked it. After all, he wasn’t the best at getting up the nerve to ask out girls. It tended to take him a pretty long time of laying ground work and building up the nerve. Mandy saved him all of that. He liked her already.

“Okay,” she said, handing him back his cell. “Now, call me,” she said, pulling out her own phone. “Y’know, so I get your number?”

Jack dialled as asked, waited for the ring and then cut off the call, sure the number had registered on her phone. Mandy smiled and saved him as a contact.

“Done. Thanks,” she said, grinning still.

“No problem.” Jack nodded. “So, I’ll see you Friday.”

“Friday, right. We’ll fix a time and place later. You can text me, or I’ll text you, whatever.”

“Okay.”

They were both stood there like fools, seemingly saying just anything at all so she didn’t have to walk away and he didn’t have to close the door. It was the weirdest situation, not being able to find the right way to say goodbye for now. Eventually, just when Jack was going to say he really ought to go, Mandy sighed.

“Oh, screw it,” she muttered, suddenly taking his face in her hands and pulling him to her so she could lay her lips on his own.

Though she had come here to apologise for this very thing, Jack didn’t mind quite so much on this occasion. At least it was a sober decision this time around, and slightly less of a shock, though not by much. He made sure to respond before it was too late. After all, he did like the girl and he wasn’t unwilling when it came to kissing her. When they parted, Mandy was breathing pretty hard, but then, Jack realised, so was he.

“Okay,” she said, hands sliding away from his face, down is chest and away. “Not so sorry about that one,” she admitted. “I just had to know it felt as good as I remembered.”

“And?” Jack couldn’t help but ask.

“Oh, so much better this time around,” she admitted, blushing a pretty pink even as she backed up down the hallway. “Friday,” she said, pointing a finger at him as she went.

“Friday,” he echoed, watching until she disappeared around the corner and out of sight.

Jack closed the door then and leant back against it, unable to keep from smiling.

“I do love college.”


	2. Goodbye and God Bless - 9th June 2022

He played it cool. That was pretty much Kwan’s way with most things. He was all for everyone thinking he was laid back and easy going, that nothing bothered him at all. For the most part it was true, and when it wasn’t, it was mostly only his parents, his brother, and the Lord that got to hear about it. Today was just a little different.

“You’re quiet,” said Tori, looking across the diner table at him. “That’s just weird.”

“Very weird,” Jack agreed, nodding his head.

Kwan didn’t even seem to hear them at all, just stared out of the window some more, in total silence, not touching his food. This was not usual behaviour for him, that much was for certain.

“And I thought I was going to be the depressed one today,” said Tori then, shoving a second doughnut into her mouth.

“Well, it’s good that you’re not eating your feelings or anything,” her brother teased, bumping her shoulder.

“You’re lucky I love you,” she replied, though the words were decidedly muffled by all the doughnut in her mouth.

Jack laughed as he tried to duck imaginary flying crumbs.

Kwan still didn’t react. The truth was he wasn’t listening at all. His mind was completely otherwhere. Some might assume he was missing Doula. He didn’t love that she had gone away but it was only for a couple of weeks and they could deal with the separation, no problem. That didn’t mean he wasn’t suffering, but how to talk about it, how to put it into words, he had no idea.

Eventually, his eyes focused on Jack and Tori, bickering and shoving each other the way siblings tended to do. Steve and Kwan were like that. Not exactly the same, all families were different, but they did that. They teased each other, wrestled around in fake fights, but mostly got along like best friends. At least, that was how it used to be.

Lately things were different. The older they got, the more different the twins seemed to become. Kwan knew it was inevitable, everybody said so, and honestly, he didn’t want to be a carbon copy of Steve and didn’t expect him to want to be Kwan #2 either. They might look identical, give or take, but they were supposed to be separate people. Kwan just wasn’t quite ready for the separation to be physical for so long.

“Seriously, Kwan, what is going on?” asked Jack then, his minor battle with Tori apparently over. “I’ve never seen you like this before. Is it Doula?”

“No, it’s not Doula!” he snapped at his friend, realising too late that his tone was out of order. “I’m sorry, man. I wasn’t... I’m not havin’ the best week.”

“And yet nothing to do with Doula leaving?” Tori checked. “Seriously, I’d get it if it were. I’m missing Dax like crazy and he's only been gone two days,” she sighed, contemplating a third doughnut.

“Toria, come on,” her brother warned, pushing the plate further away. “You do not want to be pre-series Monica Geller by the time Dax comes home.”

She looked unimpressed by that and huffed out another sigh.

“I’m going over to Aunt Sookie’s,” she said, getting up to leave. “Martha and Jaime invited me to hang out. Besides, at least the snacks there are healthy thanks to Uncle Jackson.”

“I’ll see you later at home,” her brother assured her, watching her go.

Jack’s attention went back to Kwan then and he stared at him until the other guy caved. Something was going on here and he wanted to know what.

“Can’t help you if you don’t talk to me, man,” he advised.

“You love Tori, right?” said Kwan all out of blue. “I mean, she’s your sister, and even though you guys are pretty different, you love her and she loves you.”

“Sure.” Jack nodded. “You know that’s not even a question.”

“Not for you.” Kwan shook his head, confusing Jack even further and he knew it. “I don’t... Steve is the other half of me, literally. Identical twins. We all took biology class, we know how it works,” he tried to explain.

“We do.”

“So, we should be the same, or at least similar, and we should be inseparable, bound together.” He made gestures to show what he meant, interlacing his fingers, making one whole out of two hands.

Jack really wished he knew what was getting his friend so upset. It wasn’t like him to be this way and Kwan was way too smart to think that him and Steve spending some time apart changed who or what they were to each other. Still, he said it anyway, just to be sure. He had no idea what else to do.

“Kwan, just because Steve is going away to Bible Camp for the Summer-”

“This isn’t about Bible Camp!” said Kwan, hand slamming against the table. “Or maybe it is, I don’t know. I don’t know.” he repeated, getting up from the table to walk away. 

He stopped by the door, looking out across the square. He could see the antique store from there and his brother bidding Grandma Kim goodbye for now. Something in his heart pulled tight enough to hurt.

It wasn’t as simple as being sad that Steve was going away, although that was the catalyst for his feelings, Kwan was sure on that. He didn’t verbalise well. It wasn’t only Kwan that thought so, he heard his mother say it about him enough times over the years. She said he got it from his dad and that was easy to believe. There was nothing Zach Van Gerbig couldn’t say in lyrics, but stating his feelings out loud never had come all that easy to him, even in their family home. Steve didn’t have those problems. Sure, he kept the whole dream of being a preacher thing to himself for a while, but that was understandable, Kwan supposed. Steve never had a problem telling his family or friends that he loved them, that he would miss them while he was away this Summer, that he had feelings.

Jack watched Kwan watching the view, then winced for his friend when he both saw and heard his forehead hit the glass of the diner door. He was hurting, that much was clear, and it had to do with Steve going away. Unfortunately, Jack had a feeling that was only the half of it.

“You can’t live in each other’s pockets forever,” he said aloud, catching Kwan’s attention. “It’s tough, I know. You think it’s not weird for me watching my little sister grow up? To know she’s dating and everything? You don’t think sometimes I wish we were still little kids playing together in a blanket fort or something? Those were good times, but things change. Next year, I’ll be headed off to college, leaving Tori behind, and man, that’ll hurt, but that’s life.”

“So I’m just supposed to live my life and not care that Steve isn’t around?” asked Kwan bitterly. “We were gonna be famous. The band and everything... It was supposed to be our thing, our dream.”

“You’re still mad at him for wanting something different.”

Jack’s words were a statement, not a question, but it was very clear to him now what the problem was. Kwan and Steve never talked it through, never got over the issues between them. When one brother chose a life devoted to God over a the rock star dream, the other didn’t take it well, and though he seemed to have adjusted now, he wasn’t completely over it. The loss of his brother from his future was probably hurting him more than the loss he was feeling in the present. Jack couldn’t really help with that, save for one small piece of advice he knew his mother would give him in a similar situation.

“Talk to him. Now,” he advised. “Seriously, Kwan, if you don’t figure this out before Steve goes away this Summer, you might never figure it out. Then there really will be a rift between you guys and you might never get back to what you were before.”

After a few beats of apparently silent contemplation, Kwan stepped back and pulled open the door.

“Thanks, man,” he said to Jack as he left the diner, striding purposefully across the town square.

Steve had moved away from the antique store now, headed back towards home, and Kwan had to change course at the last minute, rushing to catch up to him.

“Hey, bro!” he called, jogging the last few steps to his side.

“Hey,” Steve replied. “I was just saying goodbye to Grandma.”

“I saw that.” Kwan nodded. “You’re headed out pretty soon, huh?”

“Pretty soon,” his brother agreed. “I didn’t know where you were.”

“Just hanging out at the diner.”

“Right.”

It was so awkward, and that made Kwan mad. Him and Steve, they were never like this before, never stuck for things to say to each other, never feeling like there was anything off limits to them. They were brothers, blood, twins for God’s sake. They should be able to share anything, everything. They should be able to tell each other what was up, that was for sure.

“Look, Steve,” said Kwan, stopping walking and pulling on his brother’s arm so he stopped too. “I can’t... I want you to know that it’s cool. You going to Bible Camp and all. I know this is what you wanna do, and you’ll do it and be great at it. I mean, yeah, I’m not... I’d’ve liked it better if you still wanted to be in the band. Dax is great and everything, but he’s not my brother. It’s not the same. I guess what I’m saying is that it sucks not doing what we love together anymore, but I get that this is your dream now. I don’t want you to not do what you love just so I can have what I love, ‘cause you’re my brother, y'know?”

He rattled it out so fast, Steve was sure Aunt Lorelai would’ve been real proud, but he caught all the important parts of what Kwan said. This was tough for him, to admit that he was wrong to fight against Steve’s dream in favour of his own. Also to say what he was feeling, they both knew that, but he had tried his best, because he loved him. That meant a lot.

“Thanks,” he told Kwan then. “And y’know, I could say the same thing. I would love for you to have the same dream I have, because going to this camp would be a lot more fun with you there, but I guess we can’t always be where the other person is all of the time, at least not physically.”

Kwan nodded that Steve was right, and they both smiled. They both knew what the other meant, and it felt better to have said it, shared it all, before it was too late. Before he had a chance to overthink it, Kwan threw an arm around his brother and pulled him into a hug, slapping him on the back for good measure.

“You’re gonna be great, Steve, at whatever you do.”

“So are you, Kwan,” his brother promised him. “I know it.”

It was always going to be tough to be apart. The big adjustment of no longer being side by side in everything would take time to get used to, but they could do it. Nothing changed the fact they were brothers who loved each other, nothing ever could.


	3. Afterglow - 24th April 2023

Something was different. Rory saw it the first moment she laid eyes on Tori this morning, but until they were alone, she was not going to ask about it. She had a feeling she knew exactly what had happened last night, and that was why she waited until Jess went out, taking Jack with him, before she confronted her daughter. Even then, it wasn’t so much a confrontation as making idle conversation. This situation did not need to be any more awkward than it already was.

“So, you had fun last night? At your friend’s house?”

“Yeah. It was fun. Good fun. Fun was most definitely had.” 

Tori’s answer was muttered and fast, perhaps a little too wordy also. Though the Gilmore girls (of which Tori was considered a part despite never bearing the name) had always been known for their fast talking and way with words, this wasn’t the same thing. Tori was nervous, about to get seriously evasive, and that only confirmed what Rory already suspected.

“I’d expect nothing less,” she said then, turning from the book shelf she had been reorganising to face her daughter on the couch. “You always do have fun at Dax’s house.”

Tori was caught unawares by the comment. She ought to have known her parents were smart enough to figure it out, but she just presumed they wouldn’t try to, that they wouldn’t be looking for a lie to catch her in. Not that she had lied, exactly, she had just been a little vague and non-specific about where she was staying last night. Her parents trusted her enough not to double-check details now she was almost sixteen. Maybe that made them foolish, especially since Tori took epic advantage last night. She only hoped her mom wasn’t as mad as she probably ought to be about this.

“I didn’t mean to lie,” she said fast. “Not that I did lie exactly, unless you count it as a lie by omission, which I guess it kind of was-”

“Tori,” her mom cut in fast, “I’m not mad. I probably should be, but I’m not.”

“You’re not?” Tori checked. “Oh, okay. You’re not. Well, that’s cool.”

She was shaking and felt stupid about it. Running her hands back through her hair she took a breath and tried to be calm and reasonable. After all, Mom was being calm and reasonable, not mad apparently. Everything was good. Everything last night had been so good too. No need to worry, except for one thing.

“I knew if I asked you probably wouldn’t let me stay over there,” she went on to say, “especially Dad, and I get it, I do. I mean, we’re teenagers and we love each other. You guys were in the same boat once, and hey, Jack was kind of a surprise, right?”

“Yes, he was,” Rory agreed, smiling in spite of herself as she joined her daughter on the couch. “Which is why I hope you and Dax took the proper precautions last night?”

“Oh God!” Tori covered her face with her hands as she felt herself turning beet red. “I’m so stupid!”

Rory’s eyes went ridiculously wide. She actually stopped breathing for a while until she reminded herself what a vital function it was. This could not be happening.

“Tori, honey, don’t do this to Mommy,” she begged of her, pulling on her arm until at least one hand fell away from her face. “You didn’t...? You used something, didn’t you?”

Tori looked at her mother and saw the panic in her face. She replayed their brief conversation in her head and realised her mistake.

“Yes!” she gasped out, shaking her head at the same time and confusing the situation even further. “No, I mean, yes. We used something. Two somethings actually, because... We did,” she said eventually, knowing she was still blushing profusely and not being able to do a thing about it.

Rory sighed the biggest sigh of relief Tori ever saw or heard in her life, and honestly, she couldn’t blame her mom for that one.

“I’m sorry. When I said I was stupid, I didn’t mean it like that,” she apologised.

“That’s okay.” Rory nodded, deciding not to berate her already panicked daughter for almost giving her a heart attack, at least that was what it had felt like for a second there. “But if that wasn’t the stupid part...? Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” she asked then, watching tears fill Tori’s eyes.

“Me,” she said, sniffing hard, dragging the back of her hand across her damp cheeks. “I’m wrong. I didn’t... I lied to you. I was keeping things from you, and... and I said I never would. I always swore I wasn’t going to be that girl, the one that snuck out of the house at night and kept secrets from her parents, but I did. I did.”

“Tori, honey,” Rory sighed, reaching out to push her hair from her face. “Is that all this is about?”

“Isn’t it enough?”

“I didn’t mean it that way. I just... Are any of these tears over Dax? Over what you two did? Because if they are, you can tell me.”

When Tori suddenly burst into noisy sobs, Rory didn’t know what to think. She did what any good mother would do in that situation, she pulled her baby girl into her arms and held on tight until the tears finally subsided. It took a while, but when at last Tori could speak again, she seemed ready to confess everything, perhaps even more than Rory was really ready to hear, but it was better than secrets and lies, she supposed.

“It was my idea,” Tori began, curled into the couch cushions with her head in her mother’s lap and face turned away. “Me and Dax, well, we’ve gotten close before. Close to... to really close, but it never really happened. I knew he probably wanted to, but the whole age thing made him nervous. He sees me as a woman, that’s not the problem, it’s that the law doesn’t. Technically, if we were together, well, it’d be wrong, illegal, and it made him nervous. I know we only have a few more months to wait but I remembered what you said to me before, about knowing when the time was right and being sure you’re ready. When you told me about your first time and how you screwed it up, I didn’t... I knew I had to be really, really sure, and then I suddenly realised, I just was. 

“I couldn’t be more sure about anything than I am about Dax. I just love him, and I know that sounds crazy, and people say that you can’t be in love at fifteen, but tell it to Juliet Capulet... or even you. When you met Dad, you guys were barely seventeen and he said he always knew you were the love of his life, from the first second. “Anyway, when you and Dad started seriously planning your trip to the reunion, I started to think about me and Dax, how this would be the perfect opportunity for us. His parents would be at the reunion too, there would be no-one to know about it. Arranging to stay over there was no problem, they have a gazillion rooms in that house. Even Dax didn’t know what I was planning.

“It wasn’t all stupid like a cheesy movie. I didn’t go to the store and buy ridiculous underwear that isn’t me, or light candles and put rose petals everywhere. I just... When things got serious, I didn’t stop. I guess I made it pretty clear I didn’t want him to stop either, but he did.”

Rory wasn’t sure what to think when she heard those words. Tori already admitted that she and Dax did have sex last night, didn’t she? Now after all she heard, Rory wasn’t absolutely certain those words were ever spoken. She opened her mouth to check, but never got the chance as her daughter continued after barely a pause.

“He said we couldn’t, that it wouldn’t be right. I told him it was fine, that nobody had to know about it but us, and if we wanted to then it was okay. It was weird. I always thought it was the girl who was supposed to be nervous. I guess on some level I figured he had more experience than I did, but he doesn’t. He didn’t. He looked genuinely scared and... and then I felt like a real bitch for putting pressure on him. I mean, if a guy is the big bad wolf for pushing a girl into sex, then a girl can’t be that great for doing the same thing to a guy. I guess maybe it’s just less common that way around maybe?

“Anyway, we agreed to just wind the DVD back and watch the rest of the movie. Dax had his arm around me still and it was fine. I guess I felt a little dissed but it wasn’t like he wanted anybody else instead of me, he just wasn’t ready. You can’t be mad at someone for that, right?

“So, we watched the movie, ate some pizza, and then we wanted to work on some music for a while. Usually we’d be in the piano room for that, but Dax couldn’t find the copy of the recordings we made the last time and we went up to his room to download them off the computer.

“I’ve been in his room before, it was no big deal, and after we talked and decided nothing was going to happen, I didn’t even feel weird sitting on his bed or anything. He was getting the files from his computer, I was staring at the posters on the ceiling and I realised one was falling down so I got up to fix it. Dax got up from his desk, the chair hit the bed pretty hard and I lost my balance. It was kind of like those stupid movies where the girl falls from a step ladder and the guy catches her and they kiss, except it was a lot less graceful and probably would’ve been painful if it hadn’t been a bed we landed on.

"Honestly, I’m not even sure what happened after that. One minute we’re just lying there, laughing at how dumb we both were, and then... then he was kissing me, and... more than kissing me. I guess he needed to be the guy, to be in control, to feel okay with it, and that was fine with me.”

Her voice got quieter, her hand covering a not small part of her face by the time she was done talking. Rory guessed Tori was blushing again and was pretty sure she was doing the same by now. Her baby girl was a woman, in ways perhaps a mother didn’t need to know about, and yet Rory had to be glad that Tori told her the truth. It was less scary this way, even if it was a little awkward.

“So, he was nice to you?” she checked.

“Very nice,” Tori mumbled. “It was... great.”

Rory didn’t need to know any more than those facts. That this guy was nice to her daughter and made it okay, and that they took the appropriate precautions. Well, actually, there was one other thing she just had to ask.

“So, that’s all great, but I’m missing the part where you were stupid,” she realised aloud. “You were safe and you... you had a good time. Why are you stupid?”

Tori sat up abruptly, tears in her eyes again.

“Because I lied to you, or I hid things anyway. I'm suppose to be grown up enough to do what I did with Dax, but I was such a tupid kid about it. You would never have behaved like that, keeping things from Grandma Lorelai.”

“Oh, honey!” Rory shook her head. “As close as me and your grandma are, and have always been, I was not great at talking to her about this stuff. You know what my first time was like and how much my mom did not approve, and as for your father... Grandma Lorelai was not in any way happy about me being with Jess, either time, in any way!” she said definitely. “I’m not saying I’m happy that you kept secrets and effectively lied to me and your dad, but I’m not... I understand,” she admitted at last. “I get that this is a weird topic to get into with your mother, and that you thought maybe I’d be mad or whatever, but I do understand, Tori. You can talk to me, and I will always try to be as understanding as possible, because I love you. I love you so much, and no matter how much you grow up and no matter what you do, you will always be my little girl.”

She smiled when she said it but there were tears in her eyes too. Tori was pretty sure she was looking much the same as she moved to hug her mother.

“I love you too, Mom,” she promised her. “Thanks for not being mad at me or judging or whatever. I didn’t really think you would, I just... I don’t know. It seems so stupid that I felt ready to take a step like that and then I made such a mess of it. Not just lying to you, but trying to pressure Dax, and then... Well, when I left to come home, it was... different. It felt different, after that.”

“It is different, honey,” Rory told her, a hand to her face. “Hopefully it’s a good different, but sex always changes things.”

“I get that.” Tori nodded. “And it’s not like I think Dax will stop loving me now or anything. I know it’s not like that with us. I guess I didn’t expect to feel like this. So... overwhelmed? I’m happy, I swear, I’m just...”

“Overwhelmed,” Rory echoed. “I think you’ll be just fine, Tori,” her mother promised with a smile, “but if you ever need to talk about anything, you know I am always here. Even if it’s embarrassing or seems like a weird question or whatever, I promise it’s okay to talk to me. I want you to, if you want to,” she clarified.

“You’re the best, Mom.” Tori grinned wide, wrapping her arms around her mother one more time. “But seriously, we don’t have to tell Dad about this, right? 'Cause I really, really don’t want Dax to die this young.”

At that, all Rory could do was laugh.


	4. Rockin’ Richie Gilmore - 2nd January 2012

“Are you sure about this, Grandpa?” asked Rory from the doorstep as he ushered her out. “I mean, I'm sure if I ask around somebody else could take the kids for the afternoon-”

“Rory, my dear, I shall be quite alright. I was a man of business for over forty years, I am quite certain I can look after my own great grandchildren for a few hours without supervision. You do trust me, don't yout?”

“Grandpa, you know I do,” she sighed. “It’s not that, it’s just... I love my kids, but they can be kind of a handful.”

She really wasn’t kidding. Though Jack and Tori were pretty well-behaved and even grown up for their ages, the truth was they were not yet seven and barely four, and they could really be a lot to keep up with sometimes. Her grandparents were capable people, Rory knew that, but with Emily out of commission with a nasty bout of food poisoning, that just left Richard to deal with the kids. Capable he may be, but he was also advancing in years and had never once had to handle the Mariano children by himself.

“Rory, I promise that we will be perfectly fine,” her grandfather insisted. “There is a nurse here tending to your grandmother, and a maid and a cook available should I need their assistance. That said, I am quite sure I can keep two small children amused for what is now barely five hours of time,” he said, checking his watch. “Now go, enjoy your event, and do not worry.”

“Okay,” she said at last, finding a smile as she reached to hug him.

She looked past him to the kids then, chasing each other up and down the long hallway. They seemed happy enough and they did love their great grandpa. It would be fine, she was sure.

Richard closed the door behind Rory and turned to the children then. Jack stopped running when she saw Great Grandpa staring and Tori literally ran into his back, bouncing off and landing on her butt. She looked startled by the exprience but got herself up again without complaint.

"Can we see Gran?" she asked then. "We brought a movie, we could watch it with her. Sick people like to watch TV."

"It's the only good thing about being sick," Jack agreed, nodding solemnly.

“Well, your great grandmother really isn’t feeling well enough for visitors right now,” said Richard awkwardly, glancing towards the stairs. “But you know, your father installed a DVD player and a television in my study some time ago. We could watch your movie in there, I suppose.”

“Yay!” Tori yelled happily, arms raised in joy and excitement as she hurried down the hall.

She was back again in a second, looking pensive.

“Where is it?” she checked.

“You know where the study is, Toria,” said Jack, rolling his eyes. “It's the door Great Grandpa always comes out of!” he declared, taking her hand and leading the way.

They were such intelligent children, Richard thought with a smile, and a very loving brother and sister pair. They were a joy to watch over and no trouble at all, just as he told Rory. Of course, Richard had walked barely five paces before he heard a crash in his study and reconsidered his previous thought.

Fortunately, there was no harm done. Victoria had apparently got a little too curious about his record collection and some of the vinyls had fallen from their shelf.

“No harm done,” her great grandfather told her, stooping to retrieve the albums. “But you know you must really be careful with these. They’re quite old and practically irreplaceable.”

“Ir-re-place-able,” Tori repeated, struggling some with so many syllables. “What’s that?”

“It means that there is only one, or at least very few, in the world,” Richard explained. “So if something were to happen to it, I couldn’t just buy another.”

“Like people,” said Jack thoughtfully. “A person is irreplaceable. You can’t get another one just the same.”

“Very true, Jack.” Richard nodded. “Quite the astute observation in fact.”

He realised in a moment that his words were a little pointless since the small children were unlikely to understand. Choosing simpler words he smiled at Jack.

“You’re a very clever boy, you know?”

“I know,” he said, smiling wide. “Mommy says so a lot.”

“She says I’m clever too!” Tori insisted, not wanting to be left out for a seocnd. “Daddy says I’m gonna be top of my class when I start school in the Fall, but that’s forever away,” she said with a sigh, reaching down to pick up the last record from the floor. “He’s funny!” she declared, pointing to the picture on the cover.

“Excuse me, Victoria, but there is nothing at all funny about Chuck Berry,” Great Grandpa told her seriously. “He is one of the greatest musicians that ever lived. See here,” he said, showing her the album cover. “He plays the guitar, better than anyone else in the world.”

“Better than Uncle Zack or Uncle Gil?” asked Jack with wide eyes.

“Certainly.” Richard nodded once, before considering. “Which is not to say that those two aren’t fine guitar players also, but Chuck Berry...” he trailed off, shaking his head. “He is in a league of his own. You know when I was young, perhaps a little older than you, Jack, I dreamed of being the next Chuck Berry, of being just that good at playing the guitar and singing. I dreamt of being on the stage. My name up in lights - Rockin’ Richie Gilmore!” he declared with stars in his eyes.

The children laughed at his dramatic arm gestures and tone of voice. They didn’t know if he was being serious or joking around. Either way, it was kind of funny to think of their great grandfather on stage, rocking out the way Hep Alien did. It was tough to think of him being anything but a kindly old man who they loved as their great grandpa.

“That plays music, right?” asked Jack, coming closer and eyeing the record with interest.

“Certainly it does.” Richard nodded once, clambering to his feet. “Before your CD discs and your music pods, this was the only way to play music, and still the best way if you ask me,” he said, going over to the turntable and putting on the record.

Jack and Tori shared a look, the both of them giggling. They didn’t understand how music could be better from a big black disc than it was from a small silver one or out of somebody’s cell phone. To them, music was just music, and Tori in particular liked to dance to it.

There was a crackling sound coming from the record player now and then suddenly a guitar lick that set Tori’s feet to moving. Jack wasn’t much for dancing, but his head bopped along to the tune too.

It was impossible to tell what the man singing was saying when he started, he talked even faster than Grandma Lorelai! But Tori liked when he kept on saying ‘go, go, go’ and was joining in with gusto by the second chorus.

Great Grandpa Richard sure seemed to be enjoying himself too. He looked funny when he danced, but Tori liked it. She rushed over to stand by him and copy all his strange moves, having the time of her life. She squealed happily when Richard suddenly swung her up into his arms and danced her around the room. Jack was in fits of giggles as he watched the display, turning circles in his own childish dance.

Richard quite forgot that he had ever been nervous about keeping the children entertained. They played several of his records, singing and dancing to all the greats, but no-one seemed to impress Tori so much as Chuck Berry.

By the time Jess came to collect his son and daughter, Richard was exhausted and yet grinning from ear to ear as he opened the door to his grandson-in-law.

“They run you pretty ragged, huh?” said Jess with a smirk he couldn’t help.

“Oh, we had marvellous fun,” he declared breathlessly. “Didn’t we, children?”

“We danced to the Go Go song!” Tori declared happily.

“Great Grandpa used to be a rock star!” Jack added with a grin.

“Really?” Jess checked, looking from the kids to Richard, smirk widening all the time. “I had no idea.”

“Oh, they have their wires crossed, of course,” Richard explained, shifting his feet. “Though there was a time when I had a dream...”

“Rockin’ Richie Gilmore!” Jack declared, dancing around.

“Go, go, go!” Tori chimed in, spinning in circles and pounding her feet.

“Okay, okay,” Jess tried to quiet and calm them both. “C’mon, we gotta get you guys home, and I think Great Grandpa needs a break.”

“Yes, I believe a stuff drink in a quiet room might be called for.” Richard admitted. “Though I must say we did have the most remarkably good time.”

“I’m glad.” Jess smiled, ushering the kids out towards the car. “Take it easy, Johnny B Goode,” he told Richard, still smirking as he left.

Richard Gilmore watched his great grandchildren clamber into the car, watched his grandson-in-law strap them in, and then saw the car pull off the drive, Tori and Jack both waving like windmills. On the breeze their little voices carried, still singing their new favourite song. Richard smiled and closed the door. Though he was tired enough to prove his actual age, somehow in his heart he felt very much younger right now.


	5. Guys Like Me - 16th October 2010

He never thought she would be the type to like Disney princesses. Jess could understand his own daughter being into fairy tales. He told her those stories when she was too small to understand yet, and Rory had always liked those kinds of movies well enough, but Doula was different. She was supposed to be different.

Raised by Liz and TJ, any kid was going to be non-traditional, and Jess was okay with that. All he was sure on was the fact he was not letting Doula grow up like he did, thinking she was less than she was, thinking she wasn't important, believing she wasn't loved. To start off with, Liz had been okay. She really seemed like she was trying, like she wanted to be a good mother. With Rory, Lorelai, Lane, and Sookie around to show her how it was done right, she had every reason to improve, to try harder and be better. It was a shame it didn’t last.

Liz had a couple of relapses already, into drink and pot and irresponsibility. Doula lived with Luke and Lorelai for a month when she was two, when TJ walked out and Liz lost it big time. Right now, she was spending the week with Jess and Rory, whilst her parents went to a marriage counselling camp that was supposed to fix everything. God only knew if that was going to work, but for the sake of the almost-four year old sat on the rug in front of him, Jess hoped it could.

“Jessy!” Doula complained when she caught him not paying attention. “Look!”

“I’m looking, I’m looking!” he told her, refocusing his eyes on the screen.

He tried not to smile at the pet name she had for him. Only Doula was allowed to call him Jessy. He would pretty much kill anybody else that ever tried, but his little sister had him wrapped around her little finger, in ways even his own kids couldn’t boast. It was just a different thing, a particular familial bond that he couldn’t explain. Siblings were supposed to be close and look out for each other, but with him being old enough to be Doula’s father, it changed things. He was half-brother and partial pseudo-father at times. Theirs was a particular dynamic that was all their own, and Jess wouldn’t change it for the world.

“So, you wanna be a princess when you grow up, huh?” he asked her with a smile. “Or just a mermaid?”

“I can’t be a mermaid, silly Jessy!” Doula giggled as she leaned into him.

Stood up, she was just a little taller than he was, sat on the floor with his back against the base of the couch.

“Daddy calls me princess sometimes, but not a real princess,” she said, shaking her head as she thought about it. “I’m just Doula.”

Jess frowned at that, arm slipping from around his sister as she ran back to her place on the rug, staring at the animated movie, waving to Ariel and Eric as they sailed away out of shot. Of course she was right. Doula wasn’t ever going to be a mystical creature like a mermaid and it was highly unlikely she would be a princess, but at her age, she ought to believe she could. She ought to have that imagination and lack of fear, to think she could be anything she wanted to be, do anything she wanted to do. It was sad to realise that she didn’t, that the reality of life was already dragging her down. Jess knew how that felt and he was not letting it happen to her, no way.

Doula got up to dance to the music that played over the end credits, singing every word to 'Under The Sea' as Jess watched and smiled at her antics. She was a good kid, one of the best kids as far as he was concerned. He’d be damned if she was going to grow up so jaded, to become the tortured soul he had been in his teen years.

“Hey, D. C’mere,” he told her, encouraging her to dance his way already.

He turned the volume right down on the TV as she came over and then he pulled her into a hug. Doula threw her little arms around his neck and held on tight.

“Love you, Jessy,” she told him, sweet enough to make a grown man cry.

“Love you too, D,” he promised. “Which is why you gotta listen to me, okay?” he continued, setting her in front of him so they were eye to eye. “You’re a good kid. One of the best in the whole world. You gotta know that you can be anything you want to be. Anything at all. If you can dream it, you can do it.”

Doula frowned and then looked awful thoughtful for a while. Eventually she smiled.

“I can have fairy wings?” she checked. “Like Tinkerbell?”

Jess opened his mouth to deny it and then closed it fast, smiling because he couldn’t help it. Trust her to come up with probably the most impossible thing in the world. Still, people could have wings, store-bought that didn’t actually get them anywhere, but they had them. Actors were put on wires and made to look and feel like they were flying. Maybe it wasn’t wrong to tell her she could.

“Maybe, if that’s what you really want,” he told her eventually. “I don’t ever want you to think stuff is impossible, okay? And I can’t promise that you can have everything you want, but if I can make it happen, I will,” he promised, sure that she wasn’t truly understanding what he meant.

Poor kid knew well enough that her parents weren’t like everybody else’s mom and dad, that they didn’t always get along like they should, that they screwed up more often than the average family. At the same time, she was way too young to know what that really meant, how much it could screw her up in time. Jess knew, he was just so determined that things were going to be different for her.

“Mommy said I can have a princess crown,” said Doula then. “Like Ariel when she marries Eric.”

“A tiara? Seriously?” Jess checked, recalling the movie they just watched a little too easily after having seen it many, many times.

“They have ‘em at the store.” Doula nodded. “Mommy always says I can have one, but then she forgets...”

Her voice trailed away and her eyes dipped to the floor. Something gave way in Jess’ heart. That sounded like Liz, making promises she couldn’t keep, not caring enough to remember. Just something simple like a cheap piece of plastic crap that’d make her daughter happy for a while. She should care, but she didn’t.

“You should have a crown!” said Doula then, clapping and laughing happily at her idea.

“You think I wanna be a princess?” asked Jess, looking unamused.

“Boys aren’t princesses, but you could be a prince,” she said, grinning wide.

“Like Prince Eric, huh?”

“No, silly!” Doula rolled her eyes. “He marries the princess, and I’m the princess!” she said, gesturing to herself. “But I guess Rory is a princess too, so maybe.”

Her logic was sound and yet she was getting herself in a mental tangle, Jess knew. Kids just couldn’t process relationships the way adults could (and it wasn’t always easy for them either). Doula knew there were people you loved because they were family and people you loved that you married, but it was still a pretty basic set of rules in her little girl head.

“I guess anybody can be a prince or a princess if they want,” said Jess then, wondering how he ever got to a point in his life where that was a valid sentence.

It made Doula happy though, so it was totally worth it.

“Yeah, we can all be princes and princesses!” she said definitely. “But only I get a crown.”

“Sounds fair,” Jess agreed, levering himself up from the floor. “Okay, go find your shoes and coat and we’ll go buy you that crown, okay?”

“Yay!” Doula squealed, rushing for the hallway.

Jess watched her go and wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or cry. Having his own kids was nothing short of amazing. Jack and Tori were his world in so many ways, and he couldn’t love them more, but Doula meant just as much in a different way. She didn’t have to love him or even like him. He was only her half-brother and old enough to be her dad, but she clearly adored him, and not just because he offered to buy her a plastic tiara either. That was incredible to Jess. 

“Ready!” Doula declared, jacket thrown on and feet shoved in shoes that were one untied and one just barely knotted.

“Not nearly,” said Jess, shaking his head as he crouched down to help her out. “I gotta feeling I’m going to be running around after you, keeping you out of trouble for a while yet,” he told her, though he didn’t expect her to really understand. “But then I guess that’s just what big brothers do.”

“Jessy, you’re the best big brother in the whole world!” Doula declared, throwing her arms around him as best she could whilst he tied her shoe for her. “Love you.”

It was weird to think that he could be any kind of role model or any kind of help to an innocent little kid like her, but Jess knew that he was literally the only one who truly understood the danger she was in, the danger of becoming the screw up he used to be. Jess was not going to let that happen.

“Love you too, D,” he told her, moving to hug her back as tight as he dare. “Don’t you ever forget that.”


	6. Some Kind of Jerk - 15th November 2019

Jack couldn’t figure out what the problem was. It wasn’t as if he excelled at sports and he was never going to be the jock type, but he did okay when it came to hitting a ball or running a distance, well enough to be in the middle of the class where nobody ought to notice him. Unfortunately, somehow, he seemed to have got the attention of the gym teacher (who was also the basketball coach) and there was just no avoiding it.

“At first, I thought I was imagining it. Y’know, being paranoid, because maybe the guy glares at everybody that way when he passes them in the hall,” he told Alex and Martha when they sat together at lunch. “But its more than that. It’s like he hates me and I have no idea why.”

“Why would he hate you? He doesn’t even know you” said Martha, frowning hard. “And if he did know you, I can’t imagine what he wouldn’t like about you.”

“It’s not like you completely suck at sports” said Alex thoughtfully. “I can imagine a basketball coach getting pretty pissed at one of those skinny asthmatic kids that can’t even throw or whatever, but you do okay.”

“That’s what I thought,” Jack agreed. “I don’t excel, but I don’t suck either. I’ve always been middle of the road in gym, which is great because nobody really notices I’m there. At least until now.”

“Did you try asking Davey about him?” asked Martha then, biting down hard on another carrot stick.

“I did, but this is a new teacher,” Jack told her. “He replaced Coach Jenkins mid-semester last Spring when the old guy had a heart attack. Davey said he really doesn’t know him.”

“No point in my asking my brother,” said Alex. “Danny is not the jock type. Man, he is living it up as a Senior though.”

Martha rolled her eyes at his attitude.

“All you wanted for the last couple of years is to get into high school, and now you’re here, you’re still not happy.”

“C’mon, Mar, you gotta admit, being a Freshman is not cool. We’re back to being the bottom of the food chain.”

“That’s not even his problem,” Jack told Martha, almost as if Alex wasn’t even there. “He thought he’d be, and I quote ‘swimming in chicks’ by now. Apparently, the ladies are not responding to the Tramos charm as easily for Alex as they do for Danny.”

“Sometimes I hate my brother,” said Alex dramatically. “Seriously, he has way too much luck.”

Martha concentrated on her food and tried not to smile. She didn’t hate that Alex was having trouble scoring a date, though she wasn’t about to admit that right now.

“So, what are you going to do about the coach?” she asked Jack instead. “You can’t spend the next four years being singled out that way.”

“I don’t know,” her best friend said with a sigh. “Part of me thinks just be a man and ask what the problem is. It’s what my dad would’ve done when he was here, but I’m not that guy.”

“Well, maybe ask your dad for different advice, something that works for you” Alex suggested. “Jess is a cool guy as far as father’s go, he’s gonna wanna help you out, right?”

“Yeah, I guess so,”

* * *

“Hey, son. How was school?” asked Jess as Jack came over to the counter and hopped up onto a stool.

“Not bad, but also not good,” he admitted, sighing heavily. “Dad, can I ask you something?”

“Anything,” Jess reminded him, stopping his tidying and cleaning a moment and giving Jack his full attention. “What’s on your mind?”

Jack felt kind of silly now that the moment came to tell his dad about this. He was fourteen years old, a Freshman in high school, and he was about to tell his father that some mean old teacher at school was bothering him. It seemed so pathetic. Still, he had always been able to tell his dad anything up to now, and was never made to feel dumb.

“Jack? C’mon, buddy, whatever it is, it’s cool”

He smiled at that, he couldn’t help it. His dad really was pretty cool about almost everything. It wouldn’t be such a big deal to tell him that a teacher was bothering him.

“I’s not much, it’s just... my gym teacher” Jack explained at last. “He hates me, or at least he really doesn’t like me and I have no idea why”

“You try asking him?” asked Jess.

“No,” admitted Jack, shaking his head. “Is that what you would’ve done?”

“No,” said Jess definitely, smirking hard. “It’s what your mom would’ve done, probably. Me, I’d’ve figured if he’s going to treat my like a problem, I’d start acting like one,” he said honestly, “but following what I would’ve done at your age is not the way to excel. You know any reason why the guy wouldn’t like you?” he asked, leaning his forearms on the counter so he was at his son’s level.

“Not really,” Jack considered. “I try hard. You know I’m not really sports guy. I haven’t said or done anything to make him mad, it was just like from Day One Coach Presby decided he hates me.”

He wasn’t looking at his dad when he said it, so Jack missed the look that came over his face at that moment. It was one of shock and distaste, that was for sure.

“Coach, what?”

“Presby,” Jack repeated, frowning now that he realised how mad his father looked.

“Chuck Presby.”

“That’s his first name?”

“Yeah, and the guy is a jerk,” Jess exploded. “A huge one. Bigger than I thought apparently. Well, he’s not gonna be any more, Jack, not with you, okay?”

He said it with such authority, Jack was not going to argue, not for a second.

“Okay,” he agreed, “but why do I feel like I just turned over two pages at once?”

“It’s fine,” Jess assured him, literally waving away Jack’s concern, even as he started to pace a little behind the counter. “It’s just... We have history, nothing for you to worry about. You leave this to me and your mom, okay?”

“Okay. Thanks, Dad”

* * *

“Chuck Presby is the new gym teacher at Stars Hollow High?”

Rory looked as stunned as Jess had felt when he told her the news. 

“Apparently,” he said, nodding his head. “Can you believe that? Why would they employ that jerk?”

“Well, he is a local guy and I guess they were pretty desperate when Coach Jenkins had his heart attack,” Rory considered, even as she watched Jess pace up and down the living room. “Wow, he was always such a... a jerk.”

“I know,” Jess agreed, “and now he’s making Jack’s life miserable, because of us.”

“Us?” Rory echoed, shaking her head, getting up to stop her husband in his tracks. “Hold on a second, I always knew Chuck was a jerk and that you two didn’t get along, but why would he have a problem with me?” she asked, completely in earnest.

Jess looked at her confused face and couln’t help but smile. She was so adorable when in earnest of things that ought to be so clear to her.

“Ror, what do you think me and him used to fight over in school?”

She opened her mouth as if she were going to answer him with her best guess, then closed it again fast when she saw the look on his face. The light dawned in her head. It had all been about her.

“No! Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously,” Jess confirmed without pause. “He had a real hate for Forester, which I thought’d mean we’d get along great, but it turns out he just didn’t want anybody near you. He really liked you,” he explained, “so I’m thinking any kid you have with me? Not going to be his favourite student.”

“That’s crazy,” Rory gasped, “and so wrong!”

“You got that right”

Jess watched several emotions cross his wife’s face and then suddenly her eyes hardened. She may be flattered to know she had another admirer, sad that her son was getting picked on, frustrated by a teacher that was behaving so badly, but mostly right now, she was just mad. Rory did a good Momma Bear routine when people messed with her babies, and right now, she was royally pissed.

“You think he’s still over there?” she said, hiking her thumb back towards the door, presumably indicating Stars Hollow High.

“They have practices after school so maybe” Jess considered.

“Let’s go,” said Rory, grabbing her husband’s hand and heading for the door. “I’m going to give that jerk a piece of my mind!”

Jess stopped her at the porch and pulled on her hand so she turned into him. He was smiling, confusing Rory who could only feel anger right now.

“What?”

“You are beautiful when you’re angry” said Jess, glad to see her smile and blush at the same time.

Rory spared him a single breif kiss on the lips, that was all.

“Save it for after, tough guy,” she told him teasingly before turning serious in a moment, “and please, whatever happens, do not hit Chuck!”

Jess said nothing, just set off walking, his hand around Rory’s own. He hadn’t promised and she wasn’t sure she trusted him to not get fist happy in a situation like this. Honestly, Rory wasn’t quite sure she trusted herself.

“Jess...” she said, trying to get his attention. “Promise me,” she insisted.

“Okay, I promise,” he agreed grudgingly, “unless he hits me first,” he added, giving her a look.

Rory smiled back at him.

“Deal.”


	7. Remarkable Inspiration - 24th July 2030

It felt like a long day. It was so hot, Tori was pretty sure that if you cracked an egg on the pavement it'd be fried solid in half a minute. Actually, she as pretty sure if you cracked the egg on her the same thing would happen. This kind of weather was ridiculous for the East coast, the heatwave to end all heatwaves so they were saying in every news report. It was probably the worst possible time to be eight months pregnant.

Air con helped to a certain degree, but Tori seemed capable of burning up no matter what these past few days. The doctor checked her out, told her that she was fine. She needed to keep up her fluid intake and stay indoors when the sun was at its highest, all the usual advice. Honestly, today was the one day when the heat was not the only constant in her mind. In some ways, she would rather it were.

"Hey, mom," she said into the phone, managing only the slightest of smiles. "You okay?"

She knew no matter what answer her mother gave, she was far from okay. None of them expected to be fine and dandy on this day in the year, the anniversary of the death of one Richard Gilmore. It was ten years now since he passed away. That did make it a little easier to bear. Time was a great healer, that was no lie, but nothing ever really cured the wounds that came with the death of a loved one. Tori didn't believe it was supposed to. The hurt could get smaller, easier to handle, but if it disappeared altogether, it would feel wrong, unjust, unfeeling. She wanted to remember her great grandfather with a tear as well as a smile, it was how it should be.

"I'm more worried about you," said Rory, full of concern. "How are you holding up in this heat?"

"The heat is what it is," Tori told her, ever her father's daughter, of course. "Today is the first day when it's not bothering me so much, but... It's okay. I'll live."

She didn't mean for it to come out like that. Such a thoughtless way of expressing herself in such a moment, on a day like today, but she couldn’t help it. It was said now and probably better to let it go rather than make a big deal.

“I don’t like you being there by yourself,” Rory insisted.

Tori smiled. “I’m not by myself,” she noted, one hand on her enormously expanded belly. “Besides, Dax will be home soon. He’s taking great care of me, you know that.”

“I know, but it’s not the same as being there for you myself,” her mom insisted. “I worry about you, sweetie.”

“You really don’t have to,” Tori insisted, “but, thanks, Mom. Honestly, right now, I’m more worried about you. It feels weird not being home today of all days.”

It was still strange to be away from Stars Hollow on important occasions. Efforts were made to bring the family together for the holidays and all, even birthdays where they could, but as they all grew up and moved on with their lives, it was impossible to be there all of the time. Anniversaries like today were not celebrations by any means, but it still felt as if they should be together, to hold each other up if nothing else.

“Your Grandma Lorelai and me are going with your Gran to the cemetery. Jack wanted to come but he’s not sure if he’ll make it back in time. Things have been pretty crazy lately.”

“He told me. He called a while ago, checking I was drinking all available water,” she said, rolling her eyes, even though nobody could see. “I swear sometimes he tries to mother me more than you do!”

She laughed when she said it, feeling good about the fact that she could find anything to amuse her today. It was good to hear her mom laugh to, even as she defended Jack and herself, assuring Tori that they were all just concerned for her. Apparently, Jess had been talking about driving up to check on her at the weekend anyway.

“Since I know how tough it is for you and Dax to get any time together as it is, I did my best to talk him out of it.”

“Thanks, Mom” Tori smiled. “Honestly, if Dad really wants to come visit, he can. I never object to seeing you guys, you know that.”

They talked a little longer, until Rory really had to go. Tori put the phone down on the table and sank into the nearest chair. She was tired again, way too hot, and just wishing there was any way to feel better. Unfortunately, sitting in the too quiet apartment alone left her mind to wander back to her great grandfather, and that was no good either. Sad thoughts of his passing were going to make her cry, more this year than ever before, given all her wacky hormones.

“Happy memories,” she said to herself, squeezing her eyes tight shut, trying to transport herself back to her early childhood for a while.

A thought occurred to her very suddenly, and she hurried (as much as she could in her condition) to the stereo in the corner. It didn’t take long to find the music she wanted to hear, and a wide smile came across her face as she made her selection and cranked the volume to eleven.

The apartment almost shook with the old time rock n roll stylings of Chuck Berry, and though Tori was over-hot already and certainly over-sized, she couldn’t help but let her feet tap and her body sway a little. In her mind’s eye, she saw the first day she heard these songs, her great grandfather dancing like a loon, singing along to all his favourites. For weeks afterwards, Tori herself had sung nothing but ‘The Go Go Song’ as she called it, the one she had long since learnt was actually called Johnny B. Goode.

When the album hit that particular track, she put it on repeat, laughing as it started over for the fourth time and the upstairs neighbours slammed on her ceiling. Tori didn’t flinch. Just this once, she was going to be a pain in the ass and not care. Besides, it wasn’t as if they were always so quiet, and it wasn't exactly late at night or anything. She would turn off the music in a few minutes. Just one more chorus... maybe two.

Tori was so lost in the loud music, she didn’t notice the front door open and close, had no idea her husband was home until he was stood right by her.

“What the hell, Tor?” asked Dax, yelling to be heard over Chuck Berry’s guitar solo.

“Hey!” she greeted him with the biggest grin, moving to turn the music down just a little. “I was... This was my great grandpa’s favourite,” she told him, smiling still, even as tears poured from her eyes.

Dax looked confused a moment, before the light dawned. He knew what today was. Every year it was mentioned, the passing of Richard Gilmore, who he never had the privilege to meet but felt he knew well from all the stories he had been told over many years. Tori was trying to celebrate the life of a man that meant so much to her, but it was clear she was hurting, as anyone would be in such a moment.

Dropping his bag without a thought, Dax pulled his wife into his arms and held her as best he could with her bump between them.

“I’m sorry,” he told her, planting kisses on her cheek and in her hair. “I really am.”

“It’s okay,” she promised, swallowing a sob. “I’m okay, I just... Actually, the truth is, I think I know now what I want to name our son,” she said then, pulling out of Dax’s arms and meeting his eyes. “If it’s okay with you.”

“You want to call him Richard?” he checked, sure that must be what she was about to say.

Dax got a surprise when Tori smiled and shook her head.

“No, that would be... I don’t know, it’d feel weird,” she admitted. “I was thinking, maybe, Johnny?” she tried, eyes darting to the stereo that played on with the same track still.

“Johnny?” Dax echoed, giving it due consideration.

“It carries on the J tradition that the guys in my family have going,” Tori explained. “And it’d be for Great Grandpa too. Besides, I like it anyway. It’s cool, right?”

“Johnny Cooper,” said Dax thoughtfully. “Johnny Anthony Cooper?” he tried.

That was his father’s name in there, which surprised Tori a little. When she asked him before if he would like to name their son after anyone in his family, Dax said he didn’t care to. Clearly he changed his mind somewhere along the line. Maybe because she was giving her family such consideration in her own choice of name.

“I like it.” Tori nodded happily, moving to kiss him again. In these last few moments she had come to feel that much better, lighter somehow. “Can you believe in a month we’ll be parents?” she asked when they parted. “All this time to get used to the idea and it still bowls me over every time I think about it.”

“It actually doesn’t freak me out as much as I thought it would,” Dax considered. “I don’t know, I think... well, I always thought this was how it would be.”

Tori frowned at that.

“I’m sorry, you knew when you were sixteen and I was fourteen, that this was how it would be? That we’d be married and having a kid and everything?”

“You didn’t?” Dax checked.

For that, Tori didn’t have an answer. When she first met Dax, she thought he was cute, and then they started dating and she fell head over heels, but she was so young then. She just kind of thought life would move on and things would change. She was a realist that way. She loved a good fairy-tale but never assumed her own life was going to be one. Now she couldn’t imagine ever moving on from Dax. He had been her guy this whole time, for ten years now, and she never regretted him once.

“You make me so happy. You know that, right?”

“Sure,” he agreed, pushing damp strands of hair back off he flushed face. “Same here,” he promised. “Now, how about you sit down and I’ll get us something cool to drink? You look like you could use it”

“I did tell my mom how good you are at looking after me,” she noted with a smile as he guided her to a seat and helped her get settled, “and Johnny,” she said, patting her bump.

Dax smiled at that, already liking that they had a name for their child that was due in just four weeks’ time. He also liked that Tori had managed to make a happy memory today, to help ease the pain of a sad one. She was so good with him when it came to the anniversary of his mother’s passing, and he tried to be just as helpful to her on this particular date in the calendar.

“Maybe if the next kid is a girl, we could name her Paula,” said Tori from somewhere behind him. “Or even if it was another boy, Paul would work.”

“The next kid?” asked Dax, turning to look at her with one eyebrow raised.

“The next kid,” she confirmed with a smile. “You’d wanna name one after your mom, right?”

“Yeah, that’d be cool,” he agreed, still smiling like an idiot as he turned back to the counter and poured out two glasses of cold lemonade.

The next kid. As crazy as it seemed, he already really liked the sound of that.


	8. What’s in a Name? - 30th September 2007

“This has to be the best and worst part of having kids all rolled into one!”

Rory declared it with such gusto that Jess had a hard time not laughing. Besides, she was the one sat on her behind with a book in her hands right now, whilst he was up a ladder painting walls, again.

“I mean, naming a child of your own, it’s such a big deal. You’re giving them a part of their identity and that’s special but also so nerve-wracking because what if you choose wrong?” Rory continued to complain.

“We did okay with Jack.”

“That’s true.”

“I figured since this one is a girl you’d just wanna name her Lorelai the Third.”

He was only half-kidding and Rory probably wouldn't realise since she couldn't see him smirking for as long as he faced the wall.

“Fourth actually,” she told him, poking out her tongue when he did look her way, still in full-on smirk mode. “Grandpa’s mom was the first Lorelai.”

“I stand corrected,” he said, nodding once and moving to continue with his work.

“But I don’t wanna name her Lorelai anyway. You didn’t want Jack to be called Jess.”

“That’s a little different.”

“Not really. You think kids don’t make comments about a name like Lorelai?”

“At least nobody questioned your gender.”

“And when I started going by Rory?”

“Again, I stand corrected,” Jess noted, wondering why he ever did bother to argue with his wife at all. “So, you seemed pretty stuck on Jack being a J after me and Jimmy. How about an L or an R for our daughter?”

Rory gave that due consideration.

“It’s an idea,” she said, flipping the baby names book towards first the Ls and then after that the Rs.

She read aloud a whole bunch of names beginning with both letters, making faces at most of them, and all out ‘ick’ noises at some. Jess tried not to be amused and concentrated mostly on his painting. Honestly, he wasn’t too worried about naming their daughter. He figured Rory would pick something and so long as he didn’t hate it for some reason he would just agree and everyone would be happy. A name wouldn’t change who their little girl was or would become, so it mattered very little to him.

“Maybe another J,” said Rory eventually, flipping pages. “Jane, Janet, Jeannie... Jessica?”

Jess turned to narrow his eyes at her, knowing from the way she giggled that she was deliberately teasing him.

“Jewel, Jolie... Ooh, Jordana!” she suddenly gasped. “Jordana Mariano. I like that.”

That time Jess didn’t turn around to glare, because he knew Rory wouldn’t understand if he did. Instead he took a different approach to showing his distaste.

“Doesn’t really work,” he said vaguely, putting all his effort into keeping the peach coloured paint on the wall and off the ceiling. “You sure you even wanna go with another J?”

“I like it,” Rory repeated. “Jordana. It’s pretty. You don’t think so?”

Jess squirmed, she could see it even from watching his back.

“It’s nice enough,” he admitted, heaving a sigh, knowing there was no getting out of this without lying, which he would not do. “I just... I could use not having a daughter with that name is all.”

“Because?” Rory prompted when he said no more.

Jess came down the ladder, wiping his hands on a rag and sat down near the bottom of the steps facing his wife.

“I used to know a girl named Jordana, a couple of lifetimes ago,” he said with a smirk he couldn’t help. “We were twelve, maybe thirteen. She lived with her dad, a couple of apartments away from me and Liz, and when things got rough we’d hang out in each other’s places, or just head out into town together.”

“You were good friends,” said Rory with a smile, that expression slipping in the next moment when she realised this story couldn’t end happily, or Jess wouldn’t have such an aversion to the name.

“We were,” said Jess, nodding his head, “and then after a little while we were... more than friends,” he said with a look, watching Rory’s eyes get wider. “Blame it on the bad parenting, two thirteen year olds deciding to experiment, looking for a little happiness? I don’t know. It didn’t last, obviously. Her dad got busted for possession and distribution a couple of weeks later, and Jordana got shipped off to her aunt in Arkansas. Never saw or heard from her again.”

He wasn’t even looking at her, and Rory couldn’t figure out why. Because he was sad and didn’t want her to see it. Because he was talking about an ex and thought she might be jealous. Because he was confessing to her what his first time had been, a thing she had wondered about several times over the years but never quite asked. The whole of Jess’ childhood had been filled with pain and trauma. Rory let him be and only listened when he chose to tell her things. She didn’t ask a lot of questions because it didn’t seem fair. She certainly hadn’t been expecting this.

“Wow,” she said eventually. “So, yeah. Not calling our daughter Jordana.”

“Well, we never would’ve called our son Dean,” he pointed out the obvious parallel.

Jess hadn’t really looked at her when he spoke. The truth was he was only seeing the pictures in his mind’s eye, scenes that seemed like they were out of a movie of someone else’s life, or at the very least from a million years ago. He hadn’t thought of Jordana in so long, and now he had, he wondered whatever happened to her. All Jess could really hope was that she was happy now. Somehow he wasn't so sure.

“Ror, don’t,” he said when he suddenly looked and realised her heavily pregnant self was right there in front of him, reaching for an awkward hug. “You’re gonna mess up your clothes.”

“I don’t care,” she declared, making a big deal of hugging him as close as she could. “I love you, Jess Mariano. I may not have been the first woman in your life, but I plan on being the last.”

“You’re the only woman I could ever love this much,” he promised, kissing her face, then her pregnant belly when she straightened up. “Except for maybe this one,” he said, patting her bump affectionately.

“This one still needs a name,” she said with a heavy sigh.

Jess rolled his eyes and picked the book out of her hand, flipping the pages. He wasn't even looking at what he was doing as he chose a completely random page and held it up in front of Rory.

“This page,” he declared.

“Ooh, Vs. Interesting,” she said, taking the book and returning to her chair as she read out a few names that might work. “Valerie, Vanessa, Vera, Victoria... Hmm, that’s my mom’s middle name.”

“Victoria?” Jess checked, sure that was right. “You like it?”

“I actually do.” Rory smiled. “Victoria Mariano.”

“Victoria Lorelai Mariano,” Jess suggested, sure she would appreciate the idea.

He was rewarded by one of the biggest grins ever seen on her face.

“That’s perfect.”

“There you go,” he said, smiling back at her. “She has a name.”

“Victoria Lorelai Mariano,” Rory echoed, her hand resting on her pregnant belly just as the little one inside decided to kick. Rory laughed.

“I think she likes it too.”


	9. Worth A Thousand Words - 2nd February 2036

“I really, really appreciate this,” said Jack the moment he opened the door.

Jaime waved away the fuss he was making, smiled, and came inside.

“It’s no problem,” she promised. “You know I’m happy to help.”

Jack nodded in response to her words, but honestly, he wasn’t entirely listening. She looked different. He couldn’t put his finger on exactly what it was about her that had changed but something had. Jaime was always pleasant enough to look at. Not Hollywood beautiful, not the girl all the guys ran after because she was just so hot, but nice looking, simply pretty. The fact she was always the quietest of their group, the one who always had her head down scribbling away, meant she wasn’t noticed much. Now, Jack couldn’t help but notice her and he wasn’t sure why.

“You okay?” she asked, standing by him with her laptop and art supplies piled in her arms. “'Cause these aren’t getting any lighter.”

“Sorry.” Jack shook his head, leading her through to the main room.

She hadn’t been here before. Her sister had. Martha and Alex had come visit several times since Jack got this apartment. Tori and Dax too, plus Kwan on one occasion, and Aunt April as well, but not Jaime.

“This place is cool,” she said, sitting down at the table when he gestured that she should. “Open, airy. I don’t know, I guess I kind of thought it’d be more like a library. All dark and over-stuffed with books,” she said, smiling to prove she didn’t mean anything negative by that.

Jack would never accuse her of it. Jaime was always friendly and polite. She never seemed to want to offend or make a big deal. Between her decent looks and sweet personality, plus her ridiculous talent for art, it was amazing to Jack that she didn’t have more friends or a family of her own by now. Of course, people said similar things about Jack when it came to having a girlfriend or a wife, children, whatever. He was starting to think maybe he just wasn't that guy.

“Speaking of books,” he said, shaking his head free of too many thoughts.

“Right.” Jaime nodded, spreading her papers on the table, opening up her laptop too. “I have so many ideas, so hopefully there’ll be at least one here that you like. Like I said, the story was amazing!”

“Thanks.”

Jack knew he was blushing as Jaime waxed lyrical about his book. He hated that he could never control that, even now he was thirty years old. Thankfully, Jaime either didn’t notice or was too polite to mention.

They were talking about his debut novel, and though Jack had every confidence in it, it was a little strange to have her tell him how great it all was. Jaime spoke generally about the themes and the language, then specific plot points, moments, and quotes that had inspired the art she had created. One of these designs she had come up with would be used for the cover. Jack had no real eye for that kind of thing. He was a words person and could never create anything artistic - he wouldn’t know where to begin. It was possible for him to hire a designer for his first venture into self-publishing, but when Martha got to hear about it, she suggested asking Jaime.

“Thank you, again, for doing all this,” said Jack, as she handed him another sample idea to look at it. “I don’t want you to think I only asked you because Mar said I should, or because you’d cut me a deal price-wise.”

“I never thought that,” Jaime assured him, looking anywhere but at him. “Honestly? Even if those were the reasons, it wouldn’t matter. I love an excuse to just let fly with the art supplies, you know that. Plus, I’m one of the rare few who got to read your book before it hits the shelves,” she said with a grin.

Jack smiled right back at her and then looked down at the paper in his hands. The artwork was a little more abstract and he tilted it this way and that before he could tell what he was looking at, and then he blushed some more.

“Yeah, I figured probably not that one,” said Jaime, completely unabashed as she removed the sample from Jack’s hands and replaced it with another. “I got a little caught up in Chapter 27. I knew the passion was building before that but wow, when Jennifer and Mark actually let it all go? That was kind of epic.”

“Thanks,” Jack muttered, clearing his throat.

He could write sex scenes, it wasn't all that difficult. He had the experience for it after all, and sometimes a romance called for a little consummating. Jack wasn’t freaked out that people would read those words that he wrote, he could even deal with his parents reading it, so long as he wasn’t there when they did, but he hadn’t considered having to hear Jaime talk about it like that.

“What?” she asked, when she caught him squirming. “Jack, seriously, do you think I don’t know anything about guys?”

“Of course not,” he said, rolling his eyes, glad to see the next possible cover design was way more sedate than the last. “I know you date, you’ve dated, whatever.”

“I have,” she agreed, nodding her head. “And just because a person never actually... took part in an activity,” she said diplomatically, “that doesn’t mean they don’t know how it all works when other people... partake,” she said, giving all her attention to her laptop now as she called up digital copies of her art.

Jack wasn’t seeing the mock ups with the title of his book and his name on them. He was barely aware of anything but Jaime’s face and the words coming out of her mouth as his own mouth dropped open in shock.

“Did you just...?” he began, stopping short of asking the question in his head.

“Tell you that I’m a virgin?” Jaime supplied, finally looking at him again. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

There was a state of shock evident on Jack’s face and he was feeling it in spades. It was surprising enough for anyone to come out and tell you they never had sex, and Jack certainly wouldn’t have expected Jaime to share that revelation with him, but more than that, he couldn’t understand how such a thing were possible. As he already noted earlier this afternoon, Jaime was good looking - possibly more now than the last time he saw her somehow - and one of the nicest people he ever knew. It amazed him that she wasn't married or engaged or at the very least in a serious relationship, but as far as he knew she barely dated. Maybe it wasn’t so weird that she never slept with anyone, and yet it felt like it should be.

“So, if you want my opinion, I think either of these two are probably the best choices,” Jaime was saying then, gesturing to the pictures she spoke of. “I used a basic font because of the complexities in the artwork, but if you want...”

She stopped talking when she looked at Jack again and realised he wasn’t listening at all, just staring at her like she had three heads or something.

“Are you really going to make this a big deal?” she checked. “Because it’s not one for me.”

“It’s not...” Jack began, shaking his head before he realised he was actually lying. “Actually, I guess it is kind of a big deal. Jaime, I... I’ve known you your whole life. You’re one of the best people in my life. How is it possible that some guy hasn’t realised how great you are?”

“Maybe they have,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “Maybe it’s just none of the guys that thought I was great were the one I was looking for, you ever think of that?”

She couldn’t look at him when she said it, at least not properly. Her eyes were flitting all over the place, and she cleared her throat twice as she moved the papers around on the desk. Jack half-wondered if the use of the word man was important, if maybe she was saying that it was a woman that she would prefer, but he doubted it. Jaime was bold and confident in more subtle ways than some of his other extended family and friends group, but she would have proudly told them all by now if her sexuality were other than straight.

Jaime liked guys, she’d dated guys, there was never any suggestion that she wanted to do otherwise. It left Jack scrambling in his brain for some other explanation. That Jaime was waiting for someone, wanting someone she didn’t think she could have. It would be odd if she couldn’t tell anyone about it, not her sister at least, who probably would’ve told Jack by now, whether she ought to or not, most likely by accident - that was a thing Martha did when she got tipsy or ate too much sugar.

“Jaime?” said Jack eventually. “Am I missing something?”

“Apparently,” she replied, turning to meet his eyes.

She looked pained, sort of awkward, but more on his behalf than her own. That was when the light dawned. Jack Mariano was not a stupid person. On the contrary, he had been valedictorian when he graduated high school and in the top ten perfect of his class when he left college too. He was smart like both his parents, quick-witted and all, and yet it would seem he had missed something that Jaime had been trying to make plain to him for quite some time.

“Huh.”

“There it is,” she said with a smile that was just a little sad. “I guess when I thought I was being obvious I was still underplaying. Yes, Jack,” she confirmed plainly then, “I’ve been waiting... for you.”

Jack felt as astounded as he was sure he looked. He shook his head and tried to process, pulling up scenes from across the years, conversations, reunions, all kinds of moments, trying to find the evidence that Jaime liked him like that. The more he looked, the more he could see it. He had been so blind.

“How long?” he asked, sure that he shouldn’t but unable to help the curiosity.

“Oh, a while,” Jaime confirmed. “Did you know Alison Forester failed art class at Stars Hollow High because her clay model project went missing and turned up later in pieces?”

Jack’s eyes were wide as saucers when he looked at her then. At least he saw a pink tinge in Jaime’s cheeks. Now she felt embarrassed about her behaviour, but Jack suspected it was more the fact she caused harm to another than her feelings for him that made her feel self-conscious. Certainly he didn't have words to give her right now. Finding out she had been holding a torch for him this whole time, since he dated Alison, through Becca, Mandy, Isla, and the rest. She watched them all come and go, and through it all, her feelings for him remained strong. She waited for him and never said a word.

“You never told me,” he said eventually. “Why not?”

“Never seemed like the right time.” Jaime shrugged. “You had other girlfriends, you moved away, things changed. Everything except how I felt about you. I figured someday I'd get over you, and yet.” She shrugged once more and looked everywhere but at him.

Jack wanted to say something to make her feel better, something like an apology maybe, but that didn't seem right. Neither of them had really done anything wrong in all of this, it was just circumstances being what they were. Beside him, Jaime concentrated on her hands in her lap and then at a poster on the wall. Anything was easier than facing him after the confession she had made, one she had never planned on speaking of when she came here today. Now the truth was out and she didn't hate that he knew it, and yet she feared it changing things forever, in a way that couldn't be fixed. Perhaps the old adage of 'least said, soonest mended' would apply.

“So, let’s pick a cover for this book,” she said, looking back at the laptop screen and scrolling through the options one more time.

Jaime already knew she didn't have Jack's attention on the task at hand, before he ever spoke again.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?" she asked, smiling in spite of everything. "For not feeling the same way about me as I feel about you? That’s not your fault,” she assured him.

“I never... It’s not that," said Jack, looking as pained as he felt, he was sure on that. "I just never looked at you that way, Jaime, not... Well, not until you walked in here today.”

The way he was looking at her now, she might actually believe him. Jaime felt her heart hammering in her chest and her throat becoming dry. He couldn't be serious. Jack Mariano always looked on her as a friend, she knew, though not quite as much like family as he saw her sister, Martha, which was no bad thing. She wasn't dumb enough to believe he ever looked at her and saw a woman he might date, and he had just confessed that much. Today though, it was different. Today he saw her just exactly that way, or so he said.

“Seriously?” she checked, clearing her throat right after since her voice seemed to have developed a wobble somewhere along the line.

“Seriously,” Jack confirmed, as honest as ever.

It was one of the things she loved about him. Over the years, Jaime had developed a list in her head of all the traits about Jack to admire and adore, and there were a lot! He was sweet and kind, trustworthy and honest, and as they got older, increasingly attractive to her in looks too. How he had come to so suddenly notice her this way, she couldn’t understand, though it had been quite a while since they had actually been in the same room together. Now that she thought on it, it was well over a year.

"You look different," said Jack then. "When you walked in, I noticed, but I didn't know what it was exactly. I don't know, maybe it's just not seeing you for a while or... or maybe I'm finally over Isla?"

"Maybe," she agreed, mostly just for something to say.

This was so weird. Her emotions were so caught up on themselves that she wasn't sure which one was winning the battle to be on top. It was thrilling to have Jack look at her the way she had only ever seen him look at others before. At the same time, it was almost terrifying, and way too good to be true. Just when she thought she remembered how to breathe, she realised Jack had moved a little closer, and felt his hand in her hair.

"What are you doing?" she checked, almost unable to dare to dream she had the right answer in mind already.

"I don't know," he admitted, shifting a little closer. "Call it... an experiment?"

He was doing more than asking her if she agreed to the naming of what he was going to do. He was checking she was okay with it, and took the nodding of her head as his answer. When their lips met it was actually all too brief a moment for Jaime, but she was at least pleased to see Jack smiling when they parted.

"Huh."

"Yeah."

Jaime didn't have any more words than he did right now, but the look on her face matched his own, and that was enough. Jack almost looked as embarrassed as she felt too, which was how it came so easy to get back to choosing artwork for his book rather than talk about what just happened.

"I think it's gotta be this one."

"That's fine. I'll finalise the design and email it to you tomorrow."

The moment the decision was made, Jaime shut down her computer, gathered her artwork, and got up from her seat. Jack's mouth dropped open in surprise.

“You’re leaving already?”

“Places to be, people to see," said Jaime, smiling as she headed for the door, "but... You wanna meet up soon? Maybe for coffee?”

She practically winced when she said it, like maybe she thought it was a bad idea the moment she asked. Jack couldn't help but smile. She really didn't get that he was up for this, that now he had realised the potential in their giving dating a try, he wasn't planning on backing out.

“How about dinner?”

“Jack..." she said warily, apparently not quite sure he could mean it.

If he were, she wondered if he was just humouring her, trying to be nice or whatever. That wasn't what she wanted, a pity date or something, and yet she somehow couldn't believe Jack capable of doing that to her.

“I’m serious," he said, looking very much so. "Why not dinner?”

Jaime considered for all of a minute and then nodded her head.

“Okay. Um, you wanna text me or something?” she suggested, still not sure how this was going to work logistically, but good grief, she wanted to try it anyway.

“Sounds good,” Jack agreed, getting up to walk her out then.

They parted with all smiles, nothing more, nothing less, but that was okay. Maybe this would be one of those slow burn things. For Jaime it had certainly been simmering a very long time already. Jack closed the door when Jaime was gone and shook his head. To think she had been waiting for him all this time. Only now was Jack realising that, without knowing it, maybe he had been waiting for her too.


	10. Father Figure - 26th December 2006

Lorelai had tried her best to keep Luke from opening the diner the day after Christmas. As much as she was looking forward to the birth of their son when Spring rolled around, she was well aware that things would be so very different by next year. This Christmas had been so special, seeing Jack’s wide eyes at the sight of the tree and the brightly wrapped presents. He wasn’t even a year old yet, so he couldn’t understand Santa and all of that, but it was still amazing to see his reaction to everything the festivities entailed. Next year, Lorelai and Luke would have a son of their own to share it with, and that was great, but she had hoped to spend as much time as she could being alone with Luke this year, aware as she was that there would be little of that when their child came along.

Luke would not give in. He closed his business for the latter part of Christmas Eve and all of Christmas Day but now he needed to be open again. People had to eat, he said. To be honest, Lorelai wasn’t surprised at his attitude, and yet it was perhaps a little overly much even for Luke. He could always be difficult, grumpy, snappy even, Lorelai was used to that. Some days it was just things getting on top of him or a lack of sleep or whatever, but sometimes, there was a deeper reason behind his bad mood. Lately, every time someone mentioned the upcoming happy event, Luke seemed to growl and stomp, or just remove himself from the situation altogether.

“And it bothers me,” she told Rory over the phone. “Maybe it shouldn’t, maybe I’m just being hormonal and super-sensitive, I don’t know, but it’s like... It’s like Luke doesn’t even want this baby anymore.”

“Oh, Mom, no,” Rory insisted. “Luke loves you, and he was so thrilled when you told him you were pregnant. There’s no way he’s changed his mind about this family.”

“I know, I know,” Lorelai agreed. “At least, I think I know, but then Luke gets all weird about things. I wish he would talk to me, but you know those Danes men. Not exactly the chatty type.”

“Tell me about it,” said Rory, knowing her man was just the same. “Did you ask the right question? That can be important. ‘What’s wrong?’ never works with Jess, I have to be more specific.”

“You want me to ask Luke if he doesn’t want our baby?”

“That might be a little too direct,” Rory considered. “I wish I could help more, Mom, I really do.”

“It’s okay, sweets. You have enough to deal with already,” she said, smiling as she heard Jack making noise. “He hungry or something?”

“Or something,” Rory confirmed. “I think it’s diaper changing time again.”

“I’ll let you go deal with that,” said Lorelai. “And I guess I need to figure out what’s up with my husband, if he’ll even talk to me.”

“Hey, how about I ask Jess to see if he can find out what’s up?” said Rory then, raising her voice to be heard over Jack’s fussing. “Those two do at least seem up for sharing with each other when the mood takes them.”

“It could be worth a shot,” Lorelai considered. “But I don’t want to put Jess in a spot.”

Rory almost make a joke about her mom not wanting to do anything to make Jess feel awkward after all those times when she would happily have strung him up by parts unmentionable, but now wasn’t the time.

“We’ll see what we can do,” she promised instead, before apologising again and hanging up the phone.

Lorelai put the phone back in the cradle and let out a heavy sigh. She wasn’t sure what to do now. Hopefully, Rory was right and Jess would be able to find out what was wrong with Luke. It was bothering her a lot at this point and she just couldn’t get a word out of him.

“I know Daddy loves you,” she said, her hand on her bump. “I know he loves me too, but something is freaking him out. Maybe Jess can help,” she considered, before making a face. “These are words Mommy never thought she’d be saying, I can tell you that much, kid.”

* * *

There was something up with Luke. Jess had noticed it over the last few days and never more so than yesterday when the two of them plus Rory, Jack, and Lorelai, spent a large part of Christmas Day together. He wondered if he was the only one to notice it and hadn’t asked Rory if she had because he didn’t like to worry her. Now he knew for sure that whilst she hadn’t really paid any mind to Luke’s new attitude, Lorelai definitely had.

“You don’t think he’s going to leave my mom, do you?” Rory had asked, looking more freaked out than Jess had seen her in a while.

“No way,” he assured her honestly. “Luke has been in love with Lorelai longer than I’ve even known you, and we both know it. I don’t know what his problem is, but it’s not that.”

Of course, that didn’t mean that Jess had a clue what the actual issue was with Luke until he asked. He had an idea it had a lot to do with the baby though. As he worked alongside Luke in the diner today, he noticed the way his uncle flinched when people mentioned his journey into fatherhood, both via his unborn son and the daughter he discovered almost a year ago now. It didn’t matter if they compared him to his own dad or just told him it was wonderful to see him being such a family man, he just squirmed and then got real snappy and extra grumpy. Eventually Jess couldn’t take it anymore.

“Hey, Luke. I gotta talk to you,” he said, giving his uncle no choice as he disappeared behind the curtain and up the stairs.

The diner was quiet, and Caesar could cope just for a few minutes, they both knew that. Yelling to the cook that they wouldn’t be long, Luke followed Jess upstairs.

“What’s on your mind, Jess?” he asked, closing the door behind him.

“Really? That was going to be my line,” his nephew countered, folding his arms across his chest. “Something is going on with you Luke, and as much as I hate having to be the one to get you to talk about your feelings or whatever, I don’t think I have much of a choice.”

“I gotta get back to work,” said Luke, rolling his eyes and turning towards the door.

Jess moved fast, cutting in front of him and blocking the exit. “Move.”

“How about no?” Jess countered. “Luke, seriously, man, you gotta talk to me.”

“Oh, I do? And why is that?” he asked, mirroring his nephew’s stance, arms folded, face stern.

“Because you won’t talk to Lorelai and you’re scaring the hell out of her and Rory.”

Those words took the wind completely out of Luke’s sails, as Jess knew they would. It was exactly what he intended, because apparently subtle wasn’t cutting it, not even Lorelai’s brand of subtle which was equivalent to a flying brick.

Jess watched Luke’s face collapse, his hand coming up to adjust his hat and rub his forehead. He knew what the problem was, he knew exactly what Jess was asking him, he just didn’t want to admit it.

“All those times when I had problems and I never told you,” said Jess, watching his uncle pace and sigh. “Liz, Jimmy, Rory, high school, Wal-Mart, Jack. I kept so much stuff to myself when all you wanted to do was help me. Now the shoe is on the foot. Talk to me, Luke. Please.”

This wasn’t easy for him, and Jess knew it. He knew because they were very much the same when it came to saying what they felt or talking about what was on their mind. It didn’t come naturally, but sometimes it was necessary to just let it out, or you ended up hurting too many people that you loved.

“I’m... terrified.”

He wasn’t looking at Jess when he said it, and when he finally did, there was shock on his nephew’s face that Luke hadn’t quite expected.

“You’re terrified,” Jess echoed eventually. “You, Luke Danes, are scared of... of what?” he checked. “Being happy? Having a wife you love and a kid you always wanted?”

“No.” Luke rolled his eyes. “Or, maybe?” he admitted then. “I can’t... What do I know about being a father, Jess?” he asked him in earnest. “I mean, sure I tried to be there for Rory, but Lorelai did all the real parenting, because she was the parent. April just showed up a year ago, I never raised her either. I tried with you when you moved here but... I’m not a father, Jess, I don’t know how to be.”

Jess was astounded. He watched Luke wander over to the table and sink down into a chair with his head in hands, and he was just astounded. How Luke could think he wasn’t cut out to be a father, Jess just couldn’t figure. It was actually crazy, like certifiably insane. 

“Huh,” he said, unable to find any actual words to say.

Eventually, when his brain managed to unscramble the madness that was Luke thinking he couldn’t parent, he said all he could to reassure the man who had always been there for him when nobody else ever was.

“You really have no idea, do you?” he said, getting Luke’s attention in a second. “You know I never had a father. Jimmy is... He’s cool, we get along, whatever, but it’s not like having a dad. Lizzie, she brought home guys, married some of them, but they didn’t really care about me, not most of them. Even the ones that did, they never lasted. Then you brought me here. I hated that. Hated being away from the people and places I knew. Planned on making your life hell because that was what I thought you were doing to mine.”

“Congratulations, you did a pretty good job for a while there,” said Luke, rolling his eyes.

“I know.” Jess smirked wickedly. “But the point is, you never gave up. You never, ever did.”

“Until I threw you out.” Luke sighed.

“Oh, come on! Even I know I deserved that,” said Jess honestly. “I screwed up, Luke, more times than I can count, and then I came back here with Rory and you had to deal with the fact we were having a baby. You stood by me, both of us actually, and you were great. Jack loves you. April thinks you’re the best thing since the microscope. Why in hell would you think you can’t be a father? You already are, to all of us. Especially me, whether you like it or not.”

His voice started disappearing by the end of his speech and Jess started to feel just a little stupid and oddly emotional. Seeing the smile on his uncle’s face sure wasn’t helping any, but he was glad there was a happy expression in place of the uneasy frown and panic now. Eventually, Luke shook his head and sighed.

“You don’t... That means a lot to me, Jess.”

“Yeah, well,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders. “You mean a lot to me, and to Rory and Jack, and especially to Lorelai right now. Plus you’re gonna mean everything to that kid you’re gonna have soon. C’mon, man, if I can take care of a baby, how hard can it be?”

He was smirking when he said it, making jokes now because it was much easier than all the serious emotional crap that came before. Luke was smiling again, almost laughing actually. Jess had helped, that was all he needed to know.

“You’re better at being part of a family than you think,” said Luke, nodding once. “A whole lot better than either of us thought you were going to be a few years back.”

“Had to learn,” said Jess easily.

Luke nodded, knowing his nephew had made just one more good point to add to the pile. He had experience of being a father figure if not an actual father so far, and Luke supposed he did an okay job. Besides, Jess and Rory were coping and they were so young and inexperienced, plus Lorelai was there to help them all. She knew what she was doing. As much as he claimed to be out of his depth sometimes, Luke suspected Jess knew more of what he was doing in life than it sometimes appeared. He sure seemed to know today.

“Thanks, Jess,” said Luke then. “Seriously.”

“No problem,” his nephew confirmed. “Now we should probably get back down there,” he said, gesturing to the door and the stairs beyond.

Luke agreed, nodding his head and following Jess back to the diner. At least now he was wearing a smile instead of a frown. It was a pleasant view for Lorelai who was sat at the counter waiting on the guys.

“Hey,” she greeted them with a grin.

“Hey, beautiful lady,” said Luke, coming over to kiss her hello. “And hey, little man,” he said to her belly, planting a kiss there too.

He rarely did that kind of thing outside of their house so Lorelai was surprised. She was also thrilled too.

“Aaaw, look at the two of you,” said Babette, grinning wide. “Or should I say three of you. Oh, sugars, you’re gonna be the most adorable little family!”

“Thank you, Babette. I can’t disagree with you on that,” said Luke happily. “I’m going to be the best father I know how to be.”

“And you’ll be terrific, Luke. Just terrific!” Babette confirmed. “You both will.”

“I hope so” said Lorelai, wondering at her husband’s transformation but loving it nonetheless.

“I know so” he promised her, kissing her lips one more time.

Behind the counter, Jess watched the couple together and smiled. He could understand why Luke had been worried. He had dealt with older kids and teenagers, some times better than others, but babies were a whole other ballgame. Still, Luke was learning some from interacting with Jack and he would pick up the rest as he went along with his own son. Jess was sure he could do it, Luke just needed someone to do for him what he so often did for everyone else - show a little faith and support.

“What did you do?” Lorelai asked Jess the moment Luke disappeared into the kitchen.

For a change, she was asking with a happy, grateful expression, instead of the accusatory one he had grown to accustomed to in the past.

“Not much,” he told her, shrugging his shoulders. “He was just having first time father jitters or whatever. I get it, I’ve been there.”

“You’re doing a great job, Jess,” Lorelai assured him. “And believe me, I never saw that coming!” she teased him.

“Thanks,” he said, smiling at her back-handed compliment. “Luke will be fine too, probably even better than me. He’s had practice with older kids, it’s just the baby thing that’s freaking him out a little bit. He’ll be okay.”

“I hope so.”

Lorelai was momentarily worried again until she saw Luke emerging from the back with her breakfast, wearing a wide smile. She was pretty sure it was a genuine look, and even if it wasn’t, he was trying. He wanted to be the best he could be and worried that wouldn’t be good enough. If she could just reassure him, the way Jess had done, she was sure it would all be fine. At least he still loved her and their baby. She could stop worrying now.


	11. My Little Sister - 15th January 2025

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idea from meg121186 and Rachael S

“Seriously, man, there are a lot of possibilities here tonight.”

Jack smiled as he watched his friend scan the party, picking out all the women he would like to get to know. He couldn’t deny there were a lot of attractive females in the room, and he wouldn’t exactly mind playing Cody’s wingman tonight. If he got lucky himself, so much the better, but Cody was priority one, he really had been having a rough time lately. In fact, this was probably the first time Jack had seen him look really happy in at least a week, and it had taken three beers to get even this far.

“Dude, look at her!”

At first, Jack wasn’t sure who Cody was pointing at. When he finally saw, he really wished he hadn’t.

“Damn, that level of hot cannot be legal!” Cody declared loudly.

“It’s not” confirmed Jack, storming over to the group of giggling girls in the corner. “Toria?”

“Hey, big brother!” she said with way too much joy and enthusiasm.

Jack was sure the red plastic cup in her hand was putting her in such a good mood. She was with a couple of friends he didn’t recognise, but then she had made a few new ones since she got into senior year. They all seemed to be enjoying the free beer despite the fact that the other girls could not be older than eighteen and Toria was only seventeen yet.

“What are you doing here?” asked Jack crossly, moving to take the cup from her hand.

“Partying!” Tori told him easily, switching her drink from one hand to the other and downing the contents fast. “You do it all the time, you should recognise it.”

“That’s different.”

“How?”

The fun was going out of her tone and her eyes now, replaced by frustration and anger. Jack knew he was embarrassing her in front of her friends but right now he didn’t care. She was his little sister and she was drunk at a college party. Toria knew better, he was sure on that, so why she was behaving this way he couldn’t imagine, but he planned to find out.

“Toria...” he began, giving her look that he learnt from his father.

When she laughed at him, he knew it didn’t work as well coming from him.

“Relax, Jack,” she told him, rolling her eyes. “It was just a soda,” she promised, waving her cup around.

Jack raised an eyebrow and looked at his sister’s friends. They definitely had been drinking, as the redness in their cheeks and constant giggling proved. He would like to think his sister had a little more sense than that, and when she pushed her now empty cup under his nose, she proved him right.

“Does that smell like beer to you? No, it smells like soda, because that’s what it was,” she said smartly.

Jack opened his mouth, unsure whether the first words out would be an apology for accusing her or a reprimand for her bad attitude that came as quite unexpected. In fact, neither option made it out before they were interrupted.

“Hey, beautiful,” said Cody with a huge grin. “You wanna dance?”

“No, Cody, she doesn’t” Jack told his friend shortly.

“Yes, Cody, she does,” Tori countered without pause. “Hi, I’m Tori Mariano.”

“Mariano?” Cody echoed, looking at Jack.

“She's my sister,” he confirmed.

Cody looked bemused and wobbled more than a little from the booze. “We can still dance, right?” he checked, unable to see a reason why not.

“Yes, we can,” said Tori, grabbing onto his arm and leading him away.

She didn’t look at Jack, not willing to argue, not even willing to spare him a glance. Of course, Tori knew her behaviour wasn’t the best right now, but she wasn’t about to admit it. She needed this, something to take her mind off before, something to make her feel better. Jack might be sympathetic if he knew what was up, but Tori didn’t want a hug and a promise everything would be okay. She wanted to have some fun, and she wanted it now.

Unfortunately, it was plain as day that Cody was too drunk to dance. He needed to hold onto her in order to stay upright and used that as an excuse to get handsy. Tori got uncomfortable after about half a song and started making a point of trying to get away. Maybe if Cody was sober, he would’ve got the message, but in his current state, not so much.

“I’m leaving now,” Tori told him, pushing his arms away.

“Aaw, c’mon! We’re just getting to know each other.”

“Cody, stop!” said Jack firmly, appearing behind his friend.

“What are you goin’ to do, Mariano?” he asked, turning on wobbly legs to face him.

It was clear his friend was expecting a punch, and honestly, Jack would love to put his fist in the guy’s face, friend or not. This was his little sister they were talking about, and yet, somehow, Jack kept his cool.

“Nothing,” he said, watching Tori run from the room. “You’re not the problem,” he added, hurrying to catch up to his sister.

Something was not right here, and Jack meant what he said, Cody wasn’t the issue. Toria’s attitude tonight was all wrong. The very fact she was at a college party with friends she hadn’t known long set off alarm bells. If she was going to be somewhere like this, it was more likely to be with Doula, or maybe Dax. An idea hit Jack right between the eyes as he ran outside and found his sister sitting on the bench right by the door, her face in her hands.

“C’mon, Toria,” he said, sitting down beside her and putting an arm around her shoulders. “This isn’t you. What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing. It’s so stupid!” she complained, showing her tear-stained face at last. “I don’t even know why I’m so upset.”

“Does this have to do with Dax?” 

The way her face crumpled all over again, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks, it was all the answer Jack needed. Pulling her closer, he held Toria tight and kissed the top of her head, waiting for the worst of her sobbing to pass.

“So, do I need to go tear off some knee caps? Or is there some other part of him we should be removing?”

Tori snorted out a laugh that was mostly a cough.

“He didn’t cheat on me,” she admitted, wiping her face with the backs of her hands. “He just... I don’t know, he’s different since he went to college, mostly since he started Sophomore year. I just feel like I don’t know him anymore. When I told him, he said that maybe if I feel that way we should... we should break up.”

She started crying all over again when she was done talking, and Jack could feel his heart breaking for her. He wished he knew what to say, he really did, but there were no words that were going to help right now. If Dax had cheated or been mean to her, he could offer to go tear the guy a new one. If Tori had done wrong, he might advise her on the best way to apologise, but nobody had really screwed up here. It seemed as if his sister and her boyfriend had just drifted apart, and there was no good answer to that.

“I’m sorry, Toria,” he told her, hugging her some more. “I wish I could make you feel better, I really do.”

“But you can’t,” she sniffled. “I know because I would’ve given anything to make you feel better about Mandy, or Becca, or Alison.”

“You make me sound like a real Lothario.” Jack smirked.

Tori giggled at that, even as she sniffled through further tears at the same time.

“It gets easier, right?”

“Sure, yeah” Jack told her, rubbing her back. “It gets easier, and hey, no matter what happens with the guys you date, you are always my sister, and I always love you, okay?”

“Right back at you,” she told him, with a watery smile. “Thank you, Jack. I know this sounds awful, but with you gone... I don’t know, since you went away to college, sometimes I feel like... like it’s not the same. Like you’re so busy I shouldn’t bug you with stuff like this.”

“Hey, I am never too busy for you. Never, okay?” he said firmly, making sure she completely understood.

“Okay.” Tori nodded.

Jack smiled then, believing that she got it now. At the same time, he was feeling pretty bad, knowing that Toria ever thought she couldn’t come to him with anything at all. He really had to try harder to be there when she needed him, no matter how busy college became. Family was priority one, always.

Settling down on the bench with his arm around Toria still, Jack had a feeling they might be here a while, but that was okay. Anything for his little sister.


	12. McMasters of All We Survey - 3rd August 2022

“It’s such a shame that the Coopers are away for the Summer. I know Louise would’ve loved to see you.”

The look on Paris’ face was a picture at that remark from Rory.

“Doesn’t exactly break my heart not to see her,” she admitted. “Besides, we’ll catch up at the reunion next year. Speaking of, I’d like to spend some time this morning going over some details with you.”

“Oh, really?” Rory checked, trying not to wince.

She waited until her friend’s attention was on one of her kids then turned to Jess with a ‘help me’ expression. He smirked and said nothing. There was no way he was fighting Paris on her plans. He had to work today and could find no way to get Rory out of this even if he wanted to. Given that she was the one who invited the whole McMaster family for a visit of indefinite length this summer, he figured Rory would just have to deal with the consequences herself, no matter how much he loved her.

“You two are okay spending the day with Daddy while Aunt Rory and I work on our plans, right?”

“Uh, Daddy had plans of his own,” said Doyle pointedly. “Paris, c’mon, you know I have that video call at eleven and I have to be prepared before it comes in.”

Just at the opportune moment, Jack came wandering into the kitchen, stretching and yawning.

“Morning,” he said, somewhat suspiciously since all eyes now seemed to be upon him. “What?”

“I’m out,” said Jess, kissing Rory’s cheek before heading for the door. “Sorry, son,” he told Jack as he passed him, patting his shoulder.

“What?” the teen asked again, still not getting it.

“Jack, buddy,” said Doyle smiling too wide.

“How’d you like to make twenty bucks?” asked Paris.

Jack didn’t realise what he was getting into when he agreed to take the money, not until his mom left with Aunt Paris and Uncle Doyle wasn’t far behind. Apparently, Jack was babysitting today, and with no help whatsoever. He might have convinced Tori to pitch in if she was there, but she had spent the night over at the Belvilles, having a sleepover with the girls. That meant it was just him watching over nine year old Jonathan and seven year old Eva. Last he spent any time with the kids they were all of them at least five years younger. Pre-teen Jack had little interest in knowing the babies that the McMaster kids had been then. Now he didn’t have a choice it seemed.

“So, what do you guys wanna do today?” he asked them, clapping his hands together. “You had the town tour already, right?”

“Twice,” said Jonathan nodding his head. “It’s a nice place, but not exactly big.”

“Right.” Jack nodded, knowing he couldn't argue that point. “Well, we can stay home if you want. You like video games?”

“Video games should be educational,” said Eva seriously. “Most are stupid.”

Jack blinked hard. He had heard the two of them talk like this before, they had been in Stars Hollow several days now, but he kind of assumed it was all for their parents benefit. Most kids of nine and seven were not so serious or quiet. He wracked his brains for an activity they might go for and yet Jack was coming up blank at every turn.

“Well, what do you guys do for fun at home?” he tried.

Somehow both kids seemed stumped by the question, something Jack couldn’t really understand. Jonathan and Eva looked at each other in genuine puzzlement and then faced him again.

“We don’t have much free time,” Eva admitted.

“There’s school, and then after school clubs, then homework,” Jonathan rattled off. “On weekends, we study, plus Eva has dance lessons and horse-riding practice. I have karate class and violin lessons.”

“Wow,” said Jack, shaking his head. “Well, okay, what about vacation time? I mean, it’s the summer, what would you be doing if you were home right now?”

“Extra private study?” Jonathan tried. “Sometimes we help Nanny with the housework, but we’re not supposed to. Mommy says it’s beneath us.”

Eva nodded in solemn agreement.

Jack winced. These kids didn’t know how to have fun because they were never allowed any. He knew Aunt Paris could be strict about studying and all, but he suspected some of the problem was that she and Uncle Doyle had so little time to spend with the kids. They didn’t know what a day of family fun was, not really.

Their lives were so removed from what Jack and Tori had grown up with, surrounded by more family and friends than they could count, finding pleasure in the simple things like playing catch in the park, or riding around the town square on their bikes.

Running a hand over his face and back through his hair, Jack wracked his brains for a way to make this day fun for kids that didn’t understand the meaning of the word. He looked out of the kitchen window, recalling the antics he and Tori used to get up to when they were that age. An idea came to him that made him smile. Of course, the youngest of his social circle was fourteen now, not necessarily up for the kind of fun he had in mind, but there was a chance, for a good cause.

“Okay, kids, here’s what we’re going to do,” he said, clapping his hands together one more time. “Go watch some TV for a while. I have calls to make.”

They looked confused at first and then kind of overjoyed. Jack couldn’t imagine Jonathan and Eva got to watch much television that wasn't supervised and educational. He figured they would flip the channels until they hit cartoons or whatever, and he would make his calls. He started with the Belville house, and then tried Billy on his cell. Usually, he would’ve started with the Van Gerbigs because Steve was great with kids, but with him still at Bible Camp that was a no go. Still, Jack told Doula she could bring Kwan over if she wanted to, recalling what a big kid he could be in certain circumstances.

By the time his friends arrived, the party was already in full swing. Jack had turned the sprinklers on all over the lawn, dragged the old kiddie pool and slip n slide out of the garage, and even managed to locate his and Tori's old super soaker guns. Basically, the entire back yard was now their own private splash park, and the McMaster kids were loving it.

“We brought extra supplies!” Tori called to her brother, tossing two packs of water balloons into his hands. “Wow, we haven’t done this in years!”

“I thought it was about time!” he yelled back to her, over the din of so many squealing voices, as the older kids joined in a water fight with the little ones.

By lunch time, they were all soaked and exhausted, but having the very best time. Eva and Jonathan were smiling so wide, Jack half expected their faces to split in two. Honestly, not one amongst them looked any less happy. Jack, Tori, Martha, Jaime, Kwan, Doula, Billy, and Tara were all grinning as they fell to the lawn one by one, unable to carry on anymore.

“That was awesome!” said Jonathan happily.

“I never had so much fun!” Eva agreed, lying on the ground near Tara and Doula. “And you’re the prettiest girl I ever saw.”

Sure that the little girl was talking to her friend, Tara didn’t react at all until Billy elbowed her in the ribs and made her take notice. Lo and behold, she found that Eva was staring at her and smiling widely.

“Me? Er, thank you,” she said, smiling back, just knowing she was blushing too, though flushed from exertion as they all were, it was probably hard to tell.

“When I grow up, I wanna look like you,” said Eva then, sitting up. “This is all so pretty,” she said, reaching out to the bright red highlights in Tara’s dark hair, then down to the silver chains that hung around her belt.

“Aunt Paris would go crazy if she heard that!” Tori hissed to Jack.

“Lucky she’s not here,” her brother agreed, scrambling to his feet. “Okay, probably time we all headed inside to dry off, then we need lunch. Who’s up for the diner?”

There was a general chorus of agreement and joy to that idea, and within the hour, the noisy bunch had reconvened at Luke’s, all now dried off but still just as happy.

“You couldn’t babysit alone, huh?” said Jess as Jack came up to the counter.

“I could,” he told his father. “I just chose not to.”

“How’d you make those two smile so much?” he asked then, nodding towards Jonathan and Eva who were still grinning from ear to ear.

“Er, yeah, about that. I have a feeling my allowance this month might be going towards the water bill.”

Jess’ eyebrows rose as he heard that. He recalled the splash park style parties and water fights he and Rory had with the kids years ago when they were young enough to still think it was a fun way to spend a hot summer day. Apparently, things hadn’t changed as much as he thought.

“Anyway, can we order lunch?” asked Jack then.

“Sure,” Jess agreed, coming out from behind the counter and following his son back to two crowded tables. “What’s everybody having? On the house,” he confirmed.

“What’s it going to be, kids?” Doula asked the McMaster children. “Burgers? Ice-cream?”

“We don’t usually...” Eva began, until her brother shushed her.

Nobody heard what Jonathan said to her, but it was clearly a suggestion that they should go wild whilst they had the chance. Paris and Doyle most likely restricted the amount of sugar and fat in their diet, but today was a special day.

If Jess didn’t know any better, he would’ve said those two little kids were actually Gilmores in disguise. They put away more food than a seven and nine-year-old ever should be able to, shovelling in burgers, fries, pie, ice-cream, and several glasses of soda.

The kids all shared jokes and stories for the hour or more they were in the diner. Jess couldn’t help feeling a lot like his uncle Luke as he stood behind the counter, watching the kids have their fun. It certainly didn’t hurt to see Paris’ kids getting a normal fun day. He doubted that happened too often.

“Think of the devil...” he said to himself as the door opened and in walked the former Ms Geller herself with Rory on her heels.

“What is going on?” she asked loudly as she approached the table.

Eva hopped down from her chair and ran to her mother, Jonathan following suit a second later. They were both bouncing up and down like Mexican jumping beans, the excitement of the morning and the sugar high from lunch hitting them simultaneously it seemed.

“Mommy, we had so much fun!” “We ate pie and ice-cream!”

“We played with water!” “Tara is so pretty!”

“Soda is the best!” “I want red in my hair!”

“Can we get water guns, Mommy?” “Mommy, fries are the best!”

They talked over each other, and so fast that even Rory had trouble keeping up. Paris’ eyes grew wider and wider with each passing comment, until finally she yelled for quiet, making a cutting motion with her hands.

“That’s enough,” she told the kids firmly, looking a little too close to mad as she finally turned to Jack. “You instigated a water fight?”

“We kinda had a splash park thing at home,” he said, a little nervously. “The way we used to. You remember, Aunt Paris?”

She stared at him like she was fuming at first, and then slowly her eyes softened. She did remember, of course she did. The summer when she was done with Yale and unsure what the future would bring, when she and Doyle hit a rough patch and everything was so uncertain. She had come over to the Mariano house to consult with Rory and ended up dragged out into the yard to water fight with Jess and little Jack, with an even smaller Tori toddling amongst them and laughing like a drain. It had been so much fun, she remembered, so freeing and enjoyable. She looked at Jonathan and Eva then. They didn’t get that kind of fun. Paris never really had it as a child, only later in life, and only because of Rory and her family.

“Well, maybe next time you have this kind of fun, you’ll let me play too,” she said, crouching down to her children’s height. “I’m pretty good with a water gun,” she told them with a smile.

Jonathan and Eva threw themselves into her arms and hugged Mommy tight. They didn’t see her eyes filling with tears over their shoulders.

Paris needed to do more, try harder, before it was too late, before her little ones had up and grown and didn’t want or need her anymore. She had to make room for fun in amongst her empire building strategies, she just had to, somehow.


	13. Grandma Italiano - 8th May 2008

“Rory, passerotta, if you scrub any harder, you will make a hole!”

Mrs Rossini wasn’t even sure that Rory had heard her at first. She was so concentrated on cleaning the stains from the floor with all the strength she possessed, it was almost alarming.

“What?” she said, looking up fast when she felt a hand at her shoulder. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she apologised, realising what had been said to her.

“It is fine, mia cara,” her friend promised, “but what is the matter? You are not yourself today.”

Opening her mouth to answer, Rory closed it again fast when she realised she was about to lie. She really didn’t want to do that, but she also didn’t want to tell the truth either. It wasn’t fair to Mrs Rossini if she did, but quite honestly, she really needed someone to talk to.

“I’m fine,” she said, sitting back on her haunches and throwing the scrubbing pad into the bucket with a splash. “Honestly, Mrs R, I’m not the one with the problem.”

The way she said it made clear to her friend what had her so mad.

“A lovers’ quarrel?” she tried, wearing a smile she couldn’t help when Rory looked up at her.

“I guess you could describe it that way,” she admitted, even though she didn’t care for the phrasing.

She and Jess were not like lovers so much lately, that was the larger part of the problem. She was going to talk to Lorelai about it, but the sex side of things always felt like a place she couldn’t or shouldn’t visit with her mother. Lane was usually an option but the Van Gerbig household was in the midst of a chicken pox epidemic - both the kids and Zach had gotten it all at the same time - so Rory couldn’t really go there with her troubles right now. Paris was too far away and would doubtless be heavy-handed in her advice, and there was no way Rory was discussing sex with her grandmother. Mrs R might just be an option, if she could get past the embarrassment.

“Come with me,” said the old lady, reaching for Rory’s hand and helping get her to her feet. “Come tell Maria all your troubles. I cannot promise to have answerers, but you know I can listen.”

Rory smiled and allowed herself to be taken to the living room where they sat down together on the couch.

“This isn’t fair. I came here to help you with your cleaning.”

“You came here to help me, and now I help you,” Mrs R pointed out. “That is a fair trade.”

“That’s true,” Rory agreed, knowing there was no way around it. “Not that I’m so sure you can help me. It’s just... things are weird with Jess and me.”

“Weird?” Mrs R echoed. “You are fighting?”

“No, not fighting. Well, we have fought, but it’s not that. That’s a symptom, it’s not the problem.”

As much as she would like to ask, Mrs Rossini didn’t question what the problem actually was, she waited patiently for Rory to tell her. It was clear that she wanted to, but perhaps that she just didn’t know where to start. After all these years, if there was one thing Maria Rossini had learnt, it was patience.

“The problem is... is that we’re not... I don’t think Jess wants me anymore,” said Rory at last, fingers twisting together in her lap, eyes everywhere but on Mrs R. “I mean, in a... in a physical wanting kind of a way, y’know?”

“Oh, in that way.” Mrs R nodded. “Rory, this is ridiculous. Look at you, bella. Such a beautiful young woman,” she insisted, taking her chin in her hand. “How would a man resist? And when he loves you so much!”

“I don’t know,” said Rory tearfully. “I wish I did. I mean, all the time I was pregnant the first time, I worried about it. I worried I was fat and not attractive, and Jess could not have been more great about that. After Jack was born, we had no problems at all. It was the same with the second pregnancy, he was always reassuring me I was still beautiful to him, even when I knew I looked a real mess,” she said, smiling through her tears a moment. “I thought after Tori was born, well, we had to wait a little while, obviously, but then I figured it’d be back to normal. Business as usual,” she said, blushing some at the implication of what she was saying.

“And it is not?”

“Really not. Six months since Tori was born and nothing. Well, not absolutely nothing, but not... We haven’t, y’know?”

If she wasn’t the colour of a tomato by now, then Rory would be astounded. Mrs R seemed pretty okay about it though. She wasn’t embarrassed at all to be hearing about Rory and Jess’ sex life, or lack of same, as was the case.

“Well, I have not a lot of experience of married life, unfortunately,” said Mrs Rossini thoughtfully, a sad smile playing at her lips. “My Gennaro and me, we had such a short time together, but I remember what my mamma told me about keeping a happy marriage - always keep the fights clean, and the sex dirty.”

“Mrs R!” Rory gasped, but was soon laughing when she realised Mrs Rossini was doing exactly that.

It was such a shocking thing to come out of the mouth of an older lady, and yet, Rory sort of loved that she would say it. It was the kind of advice Rory’s mother would give to her, she was sure, she just hadn’t thought about old Italian ladies saying it back in the day.

“Oh, Rory, bella, sex is as old as time. You think because I am older, I never had any good times?”

“No, I don’t think that.” Rory shook her head. “I just... It’s not something I thought about,” she said diplomatically, wiping tears from her cheeks that were as much from laughing as crying. “All I know is, before Tori, me and Jess had no problems in the bedroom at all. Never. It’s been great, always. Physical attraction was never an issue with us. When we were seventeen, it was the one thing that always worked, even when nothing else did, and now we love each other so much, we’re both so committed, or at least, I think we are. I am.”

“He is too,” Mrs R insisted. “I see the two of you together, it is so clear.”

“But then what is the problem?” asked Rory frustrated. “And I know you’re going to say why don’t I ask him. I know I should, but... Well, I guess I’m just afraid of the answer. What if he tells me he just doesn’t... he doesn’t feel that way anymore? Maybe he loves me but he can’t... he’s not attracted now, for some reason.”

Mrs R shook her head. “Even you do not believe this,” she said definitely. “You know what you have to do, passerotta. Talk. Communication. It is so important.”

Rory nodded her head, knowing it was true, knowing she was never going to figure this thing out with Jess unless she just talked to him. Unfortunately, where physicality had always been their strong point before, communication never really was. Now she needed the one to get to the other, and that scared her.

“How is this?” said Mrs R then. “The bambina, she is sleeping still, and little Jack is happy enough with Sookie.”

“He’s playing with Martha. I’m not due to pick him up until four.” Rory agreed.

“Okay. Then you go, find your man, talk out this problem. I can take care of Victoria until you are ready to pick her up.”

“Oh, Mrs R, I couldn’t...”

“You don’t trust me?”

“You know that’s not it,” Rory insisted, ceasing to ramble when she noticed the smile on her friend’s face. “You’re teasing me.”

“I am helping you,” Mrs R insisted, her hand at Rory’s shoulder. “Go, find Jess, make things right between the two of you, or I shall not be happy.”

“Me either,” Rory realised getting to her feet and grabbing her purse. “The baby bag is right here. It has a bottle, and diapers, and everything you need, but if anything happens, I have my cell.”

Mrs R assured her she was fine and ushered Rory out of the door after another five minutes. The front door clicked shut behind her, not making much of a sound, and yet it woke Tori who started up crying.

“Oh, bambina, what is the matter?”

Mrs Rossini picked the baby up from her seat and cradled her in her arms, rocking her gently.

“Sweet Victoria, you are safe here. Mamma will be back when she has made peace with Poppa. You know your parents are one of the happiest couples I ever saw the whole of my life, and that is a very long time, bambina!

“Oh, there are times that they remind me of myself and my Genarro. I think sometimes of the family we could’ve had if he came home to me. Sons and daughters, grandchildren, great-grandchildren... but I am lucky. I have been adopted into this family. The Gilmores and Marianos and Danes, they take me in as one of their own. I end up with more family than even other Italians can claim, and you will learn that is quite the feat.

“Have no fear, bambina. Momma and Poppa will make everything right, and you will be happy family again before long. I promise.”

She leaned forward to plant a gentle kiss on Tori’s forehead as her crying ceased and she settled down to sleep again. Mrs R smiled at her, then looked to the window and her smile grew. From here, she could see the road that led to the Mariano house, and Rory and Jess passing by on their way home. They were waving their arms and yelling at each other, not a good sign to some, but Mrs R had faith. So much anger and frustration, so many tears when Rory sat beside her and told her all the problems. It only proved how much they cared for each other and for their marriage. They would be just fine, she knew.

* * *

“Huh,” said Jess, rolling onto his back beside Rory. “That is not how I saw this afternoon playing out.”

“Me either,” she said breathlessly. “Not complaining though.”

“Nope, me neither,” her husband confessed, unable to keep from smiling as he looked at her. “I think I owe your mom a gift.”

“My mom?” Rory frowned, feeling just a little squicked that Jess was even mentioning Lorelai in a moment like this. “Why?”

“Well, I’m guessing you getting all insistent on talking this out was down to her advice. Stuff usually is.”

Rory smiled at that.

“Actually, no,” she confessed. “This was all down to Mrs R.”

Jess’ eyes went wide at the implication there, unsure how comfortable he was that he got lucky this afternoon thanks to a woman he saw as a grandmother figure in his life. It had been weird enough when he thought it was his mother-in-law’s doing!

“I got upset and she asked why. I explained and she just... she said nothing was ever going to get fixed unless we talked. I needed to ask you what was up and you needed to tell me, otherwise my imagination was running riot and freaking me out.”

“With your imagination, I’m not sure I wanna ask what you were thinking,” said Jess, pulling her close and kissing the top of her head.

“Some of it was pretty wild” Rory admitted. “And even though I knew it was stupid, I was afraid of it being true. I should’ve known you had a real good reason for not wanting to... be with me,” she said delicately.

“It just freaked me out is all,” he told her what he had explained before they ended up here in the throes of passion. “After what happened with Tori, how bad it was for you, I... I was terrified of hurting you, of pushing you into anything.”

“Even when I was practically throwing myself at you?” asked Rory, looking up at him.

“I never said it was rational.”

“For what it’s worth, I love that you care that much.” Rory smiled, kissing his chin, his cheek, his lips. “But for the record, when your wife tells you she wants you, it’s more than okay to want her too.”

“I always want you, Ror,” he promised, kissing her with a passion. “So, I owe Mrs R a gift, huh?” he said then, smirking wickedly.

“Apparently.” Rory nodded. “She gave me some other advice too. Something about happy marriages being based on clean fights... and dirty sex,” she said with a truly filthy look to match her words.

“Huh.” Jess laughed at that, until he realised maybe she was being serious. “Oh, I think we’re gonna have to get her a really, really fancy gift.”

“I think so,” Rory agreed, rolling onto her back and pulling Jess with her.

There were no more words, or really any coherent thoughts, after that.


	14. Boys to Men - 23rd March 2022

Jess had insisted that Rory let him go downstairs alone when they heard movement in the house around midnight. It wasn’t because he thought they were being burglarised and fancied at playing action hero, though he would do that in those circumstances, actually. They both knew who was crashing around in the kitchen, not least because they just checked his bedroom and found it empty.

“Hey, Charlie Kane, this isn’t Susan’s room,” said Jess, flipping on the kitchen light and finding Jack on his hands and knees amongst a mess of fallen pots and pans.

“Ha-ha,” said his son, with all the inherited dead-pan he could muster. “I’m not exactly trashing the place. I just opened the cabinet door and everything fell out.”

“Because you were desperate to cook at midnight? What, you were trying to feed the Gremlins before it was too late?”

“Could you please not be IMDb right now?” said Jack, rubbing his forehead with his hand a moment. “I can’t do the whole jokey movie quote fest thing.”

Jess always knew that he and Jack shared certain personality traits - they were father and son, it was going to happen - but it was usually Tori who echoed his own teenage attitude problems. Jack was most often like Rory, quiet sometimes, rambly in other moments, very rarely out-and-out snippy or defensive with the dark moods. That was what made Jess take so much notice of this behaviour recently.

“Happy birthday, by the way,” he said, pulling up a chair at the kitchen table. “I’m guessing whatever it is you’re doing has something to do with the fact today is your birthday?”

“Not entirely,” Jack muttered, piling cookware back into the cupboard as quietly as possible. “Kind of, I guess.”

Jess nodded but didn’t say any more, at least not at first. It was strange that he and Rory were awake on purpose, about to give Jack the ‘day you were born’ speech for the seventeenth time, whilst their son was similarly up and at ‘em at some ungodly hour, but for very different reasons. In lieu of anything else to say, Jess chose to go with the original plan.

“So, you know I’m going to tell you the story again, right? About the race to the hospital, your mom screaming, me having a very unmanly panic attack because, hey, I was about to be a father at the age of twenty, and that was not a plan.”

“You do realise that at some point before I’m a legal adult, you should really stop with the traditional tale of the day of my birth, right?” said Jack, closing the cabinet door and joining Jess at the table.

“Hey, I’ll stop, but I make no promises about your mom,” said Jess, hands raised in mock surrender.

He smiled and his son smiled back, but the look didn’t entirely make it to Jack’s eyes. He looked tired, and not just because they were up at midnight having this conversation. It was a deeper kind of tired, a suffering of a type that Jess well understood. Women trouble, it took its toll on a man, all the worse when the guy in question was head-over-heels in love and the girl in the situation could care less.

“I’m sorry, Dad” said Jack eventually. “Seriously, I’m not... I’m not sleeping so well right now. I thought a snack would help, but then I didn’t really want anything. I can’t seem to... Please, just tell me this gets easier.”

“It does,” Jess promised him. “Usually, anyway. Look, Jack, I know Alison did a number on you, and it’s not cool, but that’s relationships. It’s also being a teenager,” he considered. “It’ll get easier. Right now, this feels like the end of the world, and I’m not trying to say you shouldn’t be hurt or feel whatever you’re feeling. This matters and it’s painful, I get that,” he promised, “but time moves on, other stuff happens, you get some perspective. Y’know I thought the worst thing that could happen to me was the day your mom told me she didn’t want to be with me. I swear, something broke in me right in that moment, and I never thought I’d get over it.”

“But then you got back together. I do not see that happening with me and Alison.”

“That’s not my point,” Jess countered, shaking his head. “See, even after we got back together, I still thought the scariest thing would be if Rory walked away from me, but I was wrong. You were born, and let me tell you, that was pretty scary too. Seeing your mom in pain, dealing with this tiny little person that meant so much to us,” he said, smiling fondly at a highly embarrassed Jack. “And then Tori came along, and there were all those complications... You were so young, you had no idea, but that was... We came so close to losing them both,” he said, voice cracking even now as he recalled it. “That was the scariest moment of my whole life. Knowing I could lose my wife, my daughter, in a way that there was absolutely no coming back from. Knowing I would have to raise you alone and be everything you needed. Right then, I was genuinely terrified.”

Jack was amazed by what he was hearing. Sure, he knew things had got bad when Tori was born, he had been told the story before, but this was something else. He really wasn’t so dumb as to think that men never got scared, that his dad never worried about anything. They were all human beings and it was natural to feel that way sometimes. Still, Jack couldn’t remember his father ever being quite so candid about something this serious, with the small exception of when Jess gave him the birds and the bees. That had been kind of intense too, but nothing like this.

“Y’know, obviously, I’m glad we have mom and Toria. I would never want to be without them, even when Toria is driving me crazy,” he said with a smirk. “But for what it’s worth, I think you would’ve done okay raising me alone, if you had to. Can’t imagine having a better or cooler dad than you.”

Jess smiled at the compliment, almost feeling embarrassed by it. They were men, after all, and this was all getting a little mushy.

“Hey, if this is you trying to get on my good side for some expensive birthday present, you left it kinda late,” he joked, glad when Jack broke out into a grin.

They were both just a little bit uncomfortable, even if Jack had meant what he said and Jess had been glad to hear it. The minor laughter broke the minor tension. That was good.

“I guess I should get back to bed for a while,” said Jack then, running a hand back through his hair, making it stick up at all angles. “Not that I expect to sleep.”

Jess reached over and ruffled his son’s hair on the pretext of flattening it out a little.

“You’ll sleep,” he promised. “If not tonight, then eventually. You gotta give it time.”

Jack nodded in understanding and then stood up to go. He stopped short of the door and looked back at his father.

“You met Mom when you were seventeen, right? You couldn’t have known then that your life would turn out this way?”

Jess laughed at that. “I never even expected your mom to want to be with me. I hoped she would, because I knew from the first look that I was going to be in love with her for the rest of my life, but no, I had no idea what was coming. First you and then your sister; Luke and Lorelai being together, and Billy. Life has thrown us a whole lot of curveballs and twists in the road. The short answer is no, I had no clue this was how my life would turn out, but I wouldn’t change it.”

“Not even the bad parts?”

“Not even them. If I’d had a different start in life - a father that stuck around, a mother that gave a crap - then I wouldn’t have come here to stay with your Grandpa Luke. Never would’ve met your mom, never would’ve had you two kids. Sometimes the bad stuff is worth it, even if it doesn’t seem like it when it happens to you.”

Jack nodded that he understood and this time when he went towards the door he kept on walking. Though hearing all his father’s stories and advice didn’t fix the dull pain of heartache that had settled in when Alison Forester screwed him over, it did give him a little perspective. Things could be worse. Life could be a hell of a lot harder. Someday, he was going to get past this and feel better.

“Jack? Are you okay, honey?” asked Rory when he hit the landing.

“Yeah, I’m okay, Mom,” he promised her, finding a smile, stopping a moment to kiss her cheek. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, and happy birthday,” she said, hand briefly as his shoulder as he passed by to his room.

She was still standing there, shivering in her robe, when Jess got back upstairs.

“Hey, you okay?”

“Sure, so long as you two are,” she said, glancing at Jack’s now closed door.

“I’m fine, and he’ll live,” Jess promised her. “Just don’t push too hard for him to be ecstatically happy about his birthday tomorrow. He got his heart broken, maybe a little more than we thought. It’s going to take a while.”

“I know.” Rory sighed, glad of her husband’s arms around her as they returned to bed. “Being seventeen is tough, I remember.”

“Tougher for guys, trust me,” he said, kissing her hair as they settled down to sleep. “Although seventeen was pretty good for me in a lot of ways.”

Rory smiled wide, snuggling in closer to Jess.

“For me too,” she said happily, before sleep claimed the both of them for a few more hours.


	15. It’s All Relative - 14th January 2011

April had said she would be fine. She meant it when she said it. After all, she was almost eighteen years old now. Practically a fully grown, well-adjusted adult, predicted to graduate in the top two percent in her high school class in May. She had been babysitting since she was twelve and was pretty good with kids in general. How hard could it be to sit quietly reading a book and watching TV whilst three small children slept upstairs? Apparently, harder than she thought!

The thundering like a herd of elephants running across the landing startled April from her book when she was barely one chapter in. How three children of such young ages could make such a noise she had no idea, and yet she knew it was entirely possible. She had been in the house before when just Jack and Tori were chasing each other around up there, and tonight Billy was staying over too, whilst Luke, Lorelai, Rory, and Jess all attended a party in lieu of Friday Night Dinner in Hartford. Still, the fact two or even three kids could make such an epic noise was almost impressive, or would’ve been if they shouldn’t be still and sleeping right now.

“Okay, okay. What is going on?” April called as she got up and headed for the stairs.

She hurried when she realised she could hear crying and voices louder than she would have expected. If they were just out of bed playing around, she could be at least a little mad at them, but tears were never cool.

“Tori?” she called, looking into the little girl’s room.

Jack was sat on his sister’s bed with her, his little arms holding her close. Billy was hovering by the bed, a couple of fingers and part of his sleeve shoved in his mouth. He did that when he was nervous, if there was no food for him to eat. He just started chewing on himself, which April was surprised to find she wasn’t weirded out by. Such was the nature of this whole mixed up family.

“What happened?” she asked, moving closer to the bed.

“Toria had a bad dream” said Jack, as Tori herself cried and hiccupped still, her little hands in a death-grip on her blankie and Jack’s pyjama top.

“Oh, sweetie,” April sympathised, reaching out to smooth Tori’s hair and wipe some of her tears away. “It’s okay. Everybody has bad dreams, but it’s all over now. You’re safe here with us.”

“See? Told you it was okay,” said Jack to his sister, patting her back. “Nothing scary here, Toria.”

“Monsters,” she said in a little voice. “Try to eat me!”

She started crying harder again and April wished she knew how to make it better. She recalled her own childhood and the nightmares she had back then. From flying monkeys coming to take her away after seeing The Wizard of Oz for the first time, right up to just a few years ago when she dared to rent White Noise and despite her better judgement became terrified she could hear voices in the night, sure the paranormal spirits were coming after her. Dreams could be so vivid and seem so real. Even adults could get beyond freaked out by them sometimes. For little children, for whom imagination was as genuine as reality much of the time, it had to be just terrifying.

“Okay,” said April, getting up to go turn on the main light.

Suddenly, it was almost as bright as day time in Tori’s room, not the shadowy scariness of the dark with only the night light in one corner.

“Where were the monsters?”

Tori pointed in three different directions without speaking a word, though her sobbing seemed to be down to a dull roar by now. The closet, under the bed, and somewhere in the general direction of the window seemed to be the nightmares hiding places. Realising that moving Tori and Jack wasn’t an option right now without causing further distress, April offered her hand to Billy and he placed the hand he wasn’t keeping in his mouth into her palm.

“You wanna help me prove to Tori that there’s nothing to be afraid of?”

Billy nodded solemnly, smiling around a mouthful of fingers and sleeve.

April would be grossed out to see the spit running down the chin of any other kid, but this was her half-brother, so it was fine. It was almost cute, in a weird way.

One place at a time, April and Billy opened the closet door, moved the drapes away from the window, and even went so far as to heave the bed (with Tori and Jack still on top of it) over a few feet to prove no monsters were there.

“See? Nothing but clothes, toys, and a few dust bunnies.”

“Bunnies?” Tori checked, frowning some as she leaned too far over off the edge of the bed to look. “Bunnies!”

“No, not bunny rabbits.” April shook her head, trying not to laugh too much as she grabbed Tori and pulled her into her lap before she fell completely off the bed. “But that’d be a better thing to dream about, right? Bunny rabbits and kitty cats?”

“Hello Kitty!” said Tori happily, reaching for the toy she wanted.

Jack handed it to her with a smile, glad to just see his sister happy again. He continued to grin as Tori hugged Hello Kitty and walked her around on the bed and in her lap. April loved how well the brother and sister got along, even if she was a little jealous. She was a teenager before she got an older step-sister and when her half-brother was born. She had grown up the only child of a single parent, and was just a little bitter about it sometimes. Then she remembered just how much family she had these days and she couldn’t be upset anymore. She was very lucky, even if most of her closest relations were much older or younger than she was.

“Okay, so, time to get back to bed now,” she told the three kids who seemed determined to get out toys and play now that Tori had started. “C’mon, it’s too late for play time now.”

She tried to get Jack off the bed and put Tori back under the covers, encouraging Billy away from the shelves of board games at the same time. It didn’t go well. Jack did as he was told, but he was the only one. Tori was gripping onto April like a koala, refusing to let go when she tried to put her back into her bed. When April prised her legs away, they started kicking. It was like fighting with Michael Flatley and April knew she was going to end up bruised if she didn’t change tactics here.

“Operation! Kerplunk! Pop-Up Pirate!”

Billy was yelling the names of every game as he pulled them from the shelves.

April gave up trying to put Tori down, standing straight and hugging the little girl close a while longer. She turned to find Billy surrounded by boxes and Jack seemingly trying to be good but feeling all kinds of tempted by the idea of a game.

“Guys, please,” April urged them. “Put the games back. It’s sleepy time.”

“Not tired,” Tori said from her shoulder, even as she yawned big. “Hungry!” she declared then.

“Hungry? Sweetie, it’s past ten o’clock.”

“Hungry,” Tori intoned, over and over. “Hungry, hungry, hungry.”

“Hippos?” Billy asked, lifting the box aloft with both hands.

“No.” Jack shook his head. “Hungry... for cookies!” he declared. “Please, Aunty April?”

“Pweeeease!” Tori urged her, bouncing in her arms. “Pweeease, Anty Aypill!”

She might’ve managed to say no to Jack and Billy, maybe, but the ridiculously adorable way that Tori said her name never failed to melt her heart.

“Okay, okay. One cookie each and some nice healthy milk, then back to bed,” she insisted.

Corralling all the kids down to the kitchen was easy enough. They were so eager for the cookies, and despite her saying they were only allowed one, most of a bag was gone before April could stop them. She had to admit, she ate more than a couple herself, they were just so good!

It was almost eleven by the time the kids had gulped down their milk, sat huddled together on the couch with the throw covering them up. April took a deep breath and let it out slow. Now came the tough part, getting them all back upstairs and making them sleep.

“Okay, I’m taking these back to the kitchen and then it’s bed time,” she insisted, gathering up the empty tumblers.

Unfortunately, when she got back five minutes later, the couch was empty, and she had a feeling the kids hadn’t gone upstairs to bed as she planned. It didn’t take long to realise they were all caught up in the curtains, peering out of the window as best they could. Jack could just about see, being as he was almost six and taller than the rest. Billy was straining on his tip-toes to get a better view, even though at not-quite four he was almost as tall as his cousin. Three-year-old Tori had clambered up onto a chair so she could see, though as yet, April had no idea what the draw was.

“What are you doing?” she asked as she moved to see.

“Smell snow!” Billy declared, just as his mother often did.

April smiled indulgently. “You can’t smell snow. And even if you could, there is no snow forecast at all this week. It’s been weirdly warm for this time of year and-”

“Smell snow!” Billy repeated, glancing at her with a determined look and a very deep sniffing breath. “Snow!” he said definitely.

“C’mon, snow!” said Tori, looking up into the dark night sky. “Love you, snow!”

“We want snow!” Jack declared, banging his hands on the sill. “Snow! Snow!”

“C’mon, kids, please,” April urged them, checking her watch.

It was closing in on eleven thirty. Luke, Lorelai, Rory, and Jess were due home by midnight, and she really didn’t want to have to explain why none of their kids were asleep when they got there. By now, all three of the little ones were calling for snow and April just knew they were not going to give in until they got some, which was just great, because as she already said, none was forecast for the whole of the week.

“Look, we can’t just stand here forever. It’s not...”

April’s voice trailed away as she took another look out of the window and realised what she was seeing. The kids had stopped their chanting, all three of their mouths now open in silence as they stared at the flurry of snowflakes whipping past the glass. Snow.

“See, I told you,” said Billy proudly, sparing April the briefest of glances before going right back to watching the weather. “Snow.”

It was amazing. He really could smell snow coming, just like Lorelai always seemed able to do. April was almost a little jealous. She watched as Jack put an arm around Tori, holding her steady when she seemed fit to tumble off the chair she was balanced on. It was so sweet. Sure, she could feel bad that she never had a brother like Jack or a sister like Tori, that she couldn’t smell know the way Billy could, that she didn’t have these bonds of childhood friendship, but that would be dumb. These kids were part of her family and they loved her too. April was a part of this, this perfect picture, all of them huddled in the window watching the snow fall.

Putting her arms around all the kids, she sighed.

“Love you, Anty Aypill,” said Tori, leaning into her embrace, even though her eyes stayed fixed on the snow.

“I love you too,” she replied. “All of you.”

She should get them back to bed, try to have them at least pretending to sleep before their parents got home. April knew all this and yet she couldn’t move. This was too special.

One by one, the kids suddenly let out a series of great heaving yawns.

“Sleepy now,” said Billy, slipping out from under April’s arm and rushing for the stairs.

Jack helped Tori down from the chair, with further assistance from April, and they followed after Billy. April followed them, just in case they needed help, but between the three of them they all got back to bed without any further fuss. She checked in on Jack and Billy, and then finally on Tori.

“You want me to leave the light on?” asked April from the doorway.

Tori shook her little head against the pillow and curled happily into her blankets.

“Snow makes monsters go ’way,” she said, eyes already closed.

April smiled and put out the light, closing the door behind her. She peered out of the window at the end of the hall, where flurries were blowing by in a beautiful veil of white, and hoped Dad and the others got home safely before the weather got too bad. She was sure everything would be fine. Somehow, with her family, it always was in the end.


	16. The Girl Next Door - 3rd September 2021

It was the day of the Annual Stars Hollow End of Summer Madness Festival. Billy Danes wasn’t exactly nuts about attending those kinds of events anymore. It was cool when he was a kid, but at fourteen and about to start high school in a few days’ time, he kind of thought the whole thing was a little lame and beneath him. His dad approved of that attitude and said he was quite happy to have Billy stay in the diner with him, away from all the crazy party atmosphere. Unfortunately for Luke, Lorelai was determined to man a booth this year and roped her husband into helping her. Everybody knew, as Billy did, that his mom could not be denied, and with Rory equally determined that Jess was not wriggling out of the Summer fun, it was decided that the diner should be closed for the afternoon.

“Hey, how about I clean the place some while it’s closed?” Billy suggested to his father. “I could use some extra cash and you’re always saying you keep meaning to deep clean the place”

Luke had looked at Jess and he had shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, I’ll pay to get out of that job” he admitted. “I’ll go five bucks an hour if you will?”

“Works for me” Luke had agreed then and the deal was done,

Billy wasn’t exactly thrilled at the idea of being elbow deep in bleach and water, scrubbing surfaces and the floor all day, but he made the offer knowing how much cash he could probably get for his trouble. He had been saving for a while now and planned to continue to do so until he was sixteen, because he really, really wanted a car just as soon as he could get one.

Two hours into his cleaning, with headphones in and music blaring, Billy was happily oblivious to the world outside and not expecting to be anything else for a while yet. It was then he saw movement beyond the glass between the diner and the Soda shoppe. Though Taylor was all for making as much money as possible during festivals, he had taken all his supplies out into the town square to sell during the festivities, locking up the store for the duration. That meant nobody should be in there, but Billy was sure he just saw someone.

Propping his mop over by the counter and pulling out his earbuds, he moved over to the wall, standing with his back flat against it right by the internal window. In one quick movement, he turned fast and peered into the Soda shoppe and then whipped his head back again before anyone saw him. There was definitely somebody there, a dark figure huddled near the edge of the counter. How they got in, Billy had no clue, since they would have had to break the locks and somebody out in the street or at the festival would surely have noticed.

“Okay, let’s take a look,” he said to himself, throwing off his gloves and hurrying towards the back door.

Outside in the yard, he moved along to the back door of the next shop and found it left ajar. Somebody had broken in, at least he thought so at first, only nothing was actually broken. Maybe somebody with keys then, but surely that would only be Taylor and he wasn’t likely to be wearing black and hiding out of sight behind the counter!

Billy thought for a moment, going back into the diner and looking around for a weapon of some kind to arm himself with. Once he found one, he went back to the soda shoppe’s back entrance and crept inside.

If anyone asked him, Billy would be the first to admit he didn’t really know what he expected to find in the shop or what he would do about it when he did find out. All he knew for sure was that somebody was where they shouldn’t be and he was going to look into it. Maybe, in hindsight, he should have got to get his father, his brother-in-law, one of his uncles, but it was a little late for that when he was actually in the main part of the store, about the face the mysterious figure in black. His shadow fell over the stranger and he took a breath.

“What the hell?! Are you trying to get me into more trouble? Sit down!”

The voice was female, as was the hand that grabbed onto Billy’s arm and forcibly pulled him to the ground. He didn’t have the chance to think about fighting back, and then suddenly he was face to face with kohl-rimmed eyes and a mascara streaked face. In spite of that, she was not exactly tough to look at.

“Oh my God, it’s you!” she said then, turning her face away.

“Okay,” said Billy, more to himself than her. “And you know me because...?”

“Because you’re Billy Danes.” The girl rolled her eyes dramatically. “Find me a person in this town that doesn’t know and love you. Your family is practically royalty here,” she told him, surprisingly without the least amount of malice or jealousy. “Besides, my dad used to know your dad, back in the teen years or whatever. John Pressley?”

“Yeah, I think maybe my dad might’ve mentioned a John from when he was younger,” Billy considered. “Um, sorry, I still don’t know who you are... or why we’re on the floor of the soda shoppe,” he said then, just a little frustrated by this whole crazy situation.

“I’m Tara,” the girl told him, seemingly suddenly self-conscious about the state of her face as she wiped it it with her sleeves. “And I’m here because... Well, my sister, Belinda, works here. She has keys in case of emergency. I kind of stole them so I could come hide out when... Well, when I needed to,” she explained, turning away again. “I don’t know why you’re here.”

“I thought the place was being burglarised or something,” Billy admitted.

“And you were gonna, what? Roll the burglar to death?” asked Tara, eyeing his ‘weapon’ with some amusement now.

Billy pushed the rolling pin away out of sight and sighed.

“Yeah, well. Doesn’t matter now. Apparently, you’re not a burglar, just somebody who needed a place to hide from something, or maybe someone?” he tried.

“Astute observation, Holmes,” said Tara, rolling her eyes. “It’s not like I’m going to tell my problems to you. The last thing I need is some jock running off and telling his buddies how they finally made the goth girl crack.”

“My buddies?” Billy echoed, sure he looked as confused as felt. “My friends, who by the way are mostly my family, would not make a stranger cry, that’s not them.”

“I don’t mean that crowd.” Tara sighed. “Your fellow jock buddies. Didn’t I just say that?”

She was getting snippy and Billy couldn’t really blame her. It was not cool if a bunch of guys had been making fun of her until she got to upset she bolted, hid in an empty store, and cried like that. That kind of thing was never okay and made him pretty mad actually. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much he could do about it. The kind of people she was talking about were bound to be on the football team at Stars Hollow High, a team he planned on joining. He really needed to not alienate all the other players right now. At the same time, he did hate that they had done this. It was just wrong.

“Okay, I’m sorry they upset you,” he said, turning to better face Tara. “But those guys are not friends of mine. I mean, I’m sure I’ve played on a team with them and I probably will again, but we don’t really hang out much outside of practice and games. A few of them, sometimes, but not the kind of people that would bully other people, much less girls.”

Tara turned her head to look at him, and for a moment Billy was sure she was going to yell and call him a liar. He got a surprise when instead she nodded her head and even smiled a little.

“I actually believe that,” she admitted.

“You should,” Billy replied, smiling too. “It’s true.”

She really was beautiful, he realised, as they stared at each other. There were a lot of girls in his class that were called hot by his friends and Billy never really disagreed, but Tara was genuinely beautiful, in spite of all the dark makeup, black clothes, and crazy hair. Actually, the whole thing kind of worked for her. He wondered how he never noticed her at school, but then the goth crowd generally kept to themselves, and were considered kind of scary and dangerous. Billy might have carried on believing that if he hadn’t met Tara like this. Now he just thought she was cool, and beautiful, and he had a real need to get to know her better.

“So, I need to get back to the diner,” he told her them. “I’m kinda mid-way through a whole cleaning process, earning some extra cash from my dad and Jess.”

“Okay.” Tara nodded. “Go, I’ll be fine.”

Billy got to his feet and held out a hand to her.

“I’m not leaving you here like this. C’mon, I’ll get you a soda and some pie or something. Assuming you eat pie?”

“I eat pie,” Tara admitted, staring at his offered hand still.

Tentatively, she reached up to take it and allowed Billy to pull her to her feet. They were almost exactly the same height now they were standing, and the thought crossed Tara’s mind that would come in real handy for making out. She must’ve coloured at the thought because Billy asked her what was wrong.

“Nothing,” she said fast. “What’s wrong with you?” she countered lamely.

“Okay. Let’s go get that pie,” he suggested, tugging on her hand.

“Yeah, let’s do that,” Tara agreed, smiling as she followed him.

They were still holding hands, and apparently, neither of them had noticed, or maybe they just didn’t want to let go.


	17. Respect the Family - 4th December 2012

“Mom, what are you doing here?” asked Rory as she came face to face with Lorelai outside of the school.

“We got called in for a meeting with the principal,” she explained, gesturing to Luke who was a pace behind her. “How about you guys?”

“Same thing,” Jess told her. “Mrs R has the kids.”

“We just dropped Billy off with her too.”

“That’s gonna be a handful,” Rory said, considering the situation.

“You’re not kidding,” said Lane as she approached, her hand clasped in Zach’s own. “We just tried to drop the twins off there, but she was kind of over-run so we left them with Mama Kim at the antique store.”

“Is it, like, Parent-Teacher Night and nobody gave us any warning or what?” asked Zach curiously. “Because this is starting to get weird.”

“Maybe we should head on in, see what’s happening,” suggested Lorelai, pushing open the door.

The next surprise was coming across Sookie and Jackson in the waiting area outside the principal’s office, as another round of ‘what are you doing here?’ ensued. Thankfully, Davey, Martha, and Jaime had been left in the capable hands of Tobin, so Mrs R should still be alive when all this was over!

“We’re gonna be asked to form some dumb committee, aren’t we?” said Luke, running a hand over his face.

“Geez, I hope not.” Jess rolled his eyes.

“Well, I can’t imagine why we all need to be here, and without the kids,” Rory considered. “It’s so weird.”

The door to the principal’s office opened then and Mr Davies stepped out to greet them all. He thanked them for coming and then asked that they follow him to the gym.

“It’s just, my office isn’t quite large enough to accommodate everybody.”

The adults, in all their pairs, followed on down the hallway and were soon gathered together in the gym, all perched awkwardly on chairs meant for children, which was just so much fun - not! Naturally, Principal Davies had a ‘grown up’ chair because that was just the way these things worked.

“So, first, I’d like to thank you all for coming,” he said, smiling widely. “I have no doubt you can guess why you’re gathered here?”

“Not a clue,” said Lorelai, speaking for everyone. “I mean, we all have kids at your school and we’re all kind of related, but that’s not really a reason for us all being called here like this, right?”

“Actually, it is,” Principal Davies explained, smile starting to slip now. “The fact of the matter is, your children, whilst all fine individuals and generally good students in class, they are... they are a very close-knit little community.” 

“They’re family,” said Jess with a look. “Some of them literally by blood.”

“And those that aren’t are just as included in the group,” Rory insisted.

“It’s how we raised them,” said Lane. “We want them to be close.”

“That is all very well, Mrs Van Gerbig, Mr and Mrs Mariano,” he said to each of them, “but you must understand the impact this is having on the rest of the school.”

“Impact?” echoed Sookie. “There’s an impact?”

“Yes, in so far as your children are banding together in such a way as to make others feel... and I’m sure it’s unintentional, really, but others feel almost inferior.”

“Hold on a second,” said Jackson, shaking his head. “You’re saying our kids are giving other kids an inferiority complex by being so close? That’s ridiculous!”

“Actually, it isn’t,” Principal Davies insisted. “But that’s not the main problem. A group of friends and family this large, that extends across multiple grades, it can cause other issues. In fact, it already has.”

“Jackson’s right, this is ridiculous.” Luke rolled his eyes. “There’s no way it matters to your little school who is friends with who. That’s crazy.”

“I assure you, Mr Danes, it is not at all crazy,” the Principal continued. “Why, just today we had an incident with all of the children forming what can only be described as a posse to go and confront another group of children who had upset one of their own.”

“One of their own?” Jess echoed. “You’re making our kids sounds like the Mafia.”

“Hey, don’t stop him now, that’s actually kinda cool,” said Lorelai with a smirk. “You think Billy’s the Don?” she asked Luke then.

“Nah, it’d be Davey, he’s the eldest.”

“Really?” said Sookie, grinning wide. “You think my Davey is in charge?”

“Well, he is the eldest, kind of the patriarch of the clan,” Jackson considered.

“I don’t know, Jack always seem to take charge of things when they’re together,” considered Lane. “He’s just that kind of kid, I guess. I know Steve wouldn’t put himself forward to run a mob-like organisation.”

“And Kwan only wants the lead if it’s a rock band.” Zach shrugged. “He’s not the Marlon Brando type.”

“That’s true.” Rory nodded.

“Please, please, parents!” Principal Davies called for their attention. “Please can we concentrate on this very serious issue.”

“Oh, come on,” said Luke, sighing dramatically. “You’re talking about a bunch of kids, ages five through nine. Are you really trying to tell us that they’re creating Little Italy in your playground at recess?”

“They may as well be,” the Principal insisted. “And do you know what this latest situation was over? I’ll tell you. Eight of your children confronted two others with threats and intimidation, merely because the pair in question had told the youngest of their ‘gang’ that Santa Claus does not exist.”

“Oh, no!” Rory gasped, hand covering her mouth. “Oh, poor Tori. No wonder she looked so shaken up when I picked her up today, and she wouldn’t tell me why.”

“The little ass-clowns in this school!” Luke exclaimed. “I swear to God-”

“Calm down, honey,” Lorelai urged him. “You’re gonna give yourself a seizure over Santa Claus here.”

“It’s the principle of the thing, Lorelai, and I don’t mean this guy,” her husband told her, hiking his thumb towards Mr Davies with no lack of derision in his tone. “Tori was always so excited about Santa. She is barely five years old, we had all the other kids keeping their big mouths shut so she got one more magical Christmas and now some little idiots have ruined that.”

“Well, that’s not really the issue here,” said Principal Davies, immediately wishing he hadn’t opened his mouth when eight pairs of eyes glared at him. “I mean...”

“What you mean is that you called us here to tell us that our kids have been standing up for each other’s rights and you don’t like it,” said Jackson, getting to his feet. “Well, I for one support the rights of my children to be good friends and decent human beings. It’s a pity the other kids in your school aren’t more like ours. Come on, Sookie, we’re leaving.”

“I’m with you, honey,” his wife agreed, getting up and taking his hand as they turned to leave.

“This is the dumbest thing I ever heard,” said Luke, getting up to leave also. “I’m leaving too.”

“Right behind you,” Lorelai agreed.

“Us too,” said Rory, following them out, with Jess right beside her.

“Wait up!” called Lane as she and Zach headed for the door too.

Principal Davies tried to call to them all, but nobody turned back. It seemed the parents were as closely tied in thoughts and opinions as the children, and he hadn’t a clue what he was supposed to do about it.

Out in the hall, the four couples talked animatedly about what just happened. They were all headed towards the doors to leave when suddenly Liz and TJ walked in, asking what was happening.

“You missed the world’s most ridiculous parent-teacher meeting,” Luke told his sister and brother-in-law. “Apparently, our kids are terrible people for standing up for each other.”

“Oh, is this about the Santa thing?” asked Liz. “Doula just got done telling us about it. Poor Tori, is she heartbroken?”

“She’s upset,” Rory admitted, “but she’ll get over it, I guess.”

“That’s not the point.” TJ shook his head. “I’d like to knock those little monsters into next Thursday for being so mean.”

“Yeah, well, apparently, our kids are in the wrong for sticking together against the common enemy,” said Sookie. “The Principal was comparing them to the mafia! Which was actually kind of funny,” said said, giggling then.

“I still think Davey should be the Don.” said Jackson, putting on a Brando voice. “Respect me, respect the family.”

“Hey, I’m cool with anybody being in charge, so long as my Doula doesn’t get that Sophia Coppola’s role. My God, wasn’t she awful in that movie?”

“Amen, sister-friend!” Lorelai agreed in overdramatic fashion, holding up her hand for a high five, glad when Liz didn’t leave her hanging. “Hey, what say we continue this highly entertaining conversation at the diner?” she suggested then. “All this talk of Italians is making me hungry for lasagne and ice-cream”

“Well, shouldn’t we go pick up the kids first?” suggested Sookie.

“Apparently, they can take care of themselves,” said Jess, smirking hard.

“I love our kids,” said Rory happily. “Every single one of them.”

“We do have nine of the best kids ever,” Lane agreed. “Though I will admit, a meal without any of them present might be nice, just this once.”

To the sound of everyone’s general agreement, the group of proud parents headed for the diner, not giving Principal Davies another thought.


	18. Always & Forever - 5th August 2046

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idea from chelsbaby

“Well, what do you think?”

Jess looked up from his book, lowered his glasses to the end of his nose, and looked at his wife. He smiled.

“You’re beautiful,” he told her. “Honestly? I don’t think you’ve ever been anything else to me.”

“You don’t think it’s a little too much?” asked Rory, smoothing the dress out where it was already wrinkling. “I just thought with the whole ruby theme...”

“You. Look. Beautiful,” Jess insisted, rising from his seat to meet her, taking her hands in his own. “You never did learn to take a compliment. Forty years of marriage and still we always have this problem.”

“I can take a compliment,” Rory insisted. “And even if I can’t, you were never any better. Y’know, the only thing better than you in a suit has always been “you out of a suit,” she reminded him, giggling like a girl of sixteen when he pulled her close and kissed her cheek.

“Time rolls on, Ror.”

“Yeah, but we rolled on together, and hey, I think we’re doing okay for over sixties,” she told him with a wide smile. “Forty years, Jess. Can you believe it?”

“Yeah, I can,” he said, his hand at her hair.

He meant what he said. She was as beautiful now as she had ever been, though her long brown hair was now much shorter and silver, and her once smooth skin was wrinkled in places. It didn’t matter at all. She was the same girl he fell in love with. Better in some ways, because she had been his wife for forty years, and borne him two wonderful children, one of which now had three of her own. A whole life behind them to look back on and enjoy, and so many years still to look forward to, Jess hoped.

“Y’know, you always said when we were seventeen you looked at me and just knew we were forever” said Rory, smiling still. “I thought you were crazy then, but you were right. How are you always right?” she asked, rolling her eyes dramatically.

“It’s my cross to bear,” he dead-panned, lifting her hand to his lips and kissing it right next to her wedding ring. “I have to go change.”

Rory watched him head on up the stairs with just a little more trouble than he used to have. They were both that much older now. Bones and muscles stiffened up when they sat still too long, and most days if they worked enough, they were too exhausted by the time they went to bed to say more than goodnight. Still, not everything had changed with age and decades gone by. Rory still fell asleep in Jess’ arms most nights. They always said ‘I love you’ and meant it. He never forgot her birthday and she had never once tired of re-reading his very first novel, ‘The Subsect’.

The computer beeping on the table snapped Rory from her happy thoughts and she moved to answer the incoming video call. She was grinning all over again when she realised who was there.

“Tori! Oh, your dad just went upstairs, let me go get him.”

“No, Mom, it’s okay,” her daughter insisted. “You should stay right there.”

“I should?” Rory checked.

“You really should.” Tori grinned at her. “So, how are you doing? You feeling good about today?”

“Of course, it’s my wedding anniversary,” her mother assured her. “Kind of a big deal too, which is why I hoped you’d be here, but hey, I get it. It’s a long way, there’s a lot going on-”

“Mom,” Tori interrupted suddenly. “I need you to take a deep breath, and then turn around,” she said, eyes sparkling.

“Oookay,” said Rory, feeling very dumb but following the instructions anyway.

She got the shock of her life when she did turn and found the hallway behind her filled with people.

“Oh, my goodness!” she gasped, hands shooting up to cover her mouth.

“Happy Anniversary, Grandma!” Johnny, Paul, and Aimee chorused happily, complete with banner and balloons.

“But I don’t understand.”

“We had a change of plans,” explained Dax, as the kids all took turns hugging Rory and piling gifts on the coffee table. “Actually, I changed some plans. There was no way Tori was going to miss her parents’ anniversary party. Honestly? Wasn’t too happy about missing it myself.”

“I knew there was a reason I always liked this kid,” said Jess, descending the stairs with one had on the bannister rail. “Hey, Dax.”

“Happy anniversary, Pop,” he replied, smiling too wide.

He knew Jess had mixed feelings about that name. The grandkids had taken to calling him Poppa Jess when they were little, and he could deal with that, but he never had quite got used to Dax following suit. It still seemed weird, but he refused to rise to the bait and complain about it.

“I know, I’m a very bad person,” said Tori, walking in with her hands raised in mock surrender. “But seriously, Mom, you didn’t recognise the side of your own house?” she said, gesturing the computer screen that still showed a picture of her own face with the outside wall in the background.

“So not what I was focusing on!” Rory insisted, hugging her daughter close.

“Hello, Daddy,” said Tori then, turning to Jess.

“Hey, Tor,” he greeted her, pulling her into his arms. “I’m not sorry you’re here.”

“Me either,” she promised, squeezing him as tight as she dare. “How could I miss this day? Forty years? That’s incredible.”

“It is what it is” said Jess, nonchalant as ever. “One day it’ll be you two,” he said, looking from Tori to her husband.

“If I’m lucky,” said Dax, smiling and yet very serious in what he said.

Jess couldn’t hate that. When he first met the little punk that was Darryl Cooper, he hadn’t been so sure he wanted the kid dating his fourteen year old. Turned out he was a keeper, and now Jess had to say that he couldn’t be sorry his baby girl had made things work with Dax. They had been married more than seventeen years now, and had produced these three beautiful and talented grandchildren - currently, ages almost sixteen, fourteen, and ten - neither Jess nor Rory could be prouder of them.

After gifts and as much catching up as time allowed, they all headed over to the inn for the real celebration. Lorelai and Sookie had insisted on organising the party, though Rory insisted she ought to do most of the leg work. April helped all she could too, albeit from long-distance. They all muddled through in the end, and everything had come together, thanks to much help from a great number of people around the town. Stars Hollow had always been the same that way.

Rory and Jess intentionally arrived after everyone else, since they were the guests of honour and had been instructed to do so by Lorelai. She insisted it was just the proper way to do things, and Rory still refused to argue with her mom on such things.

A cheer went up as the couple of the moment entered the room, as Rory gasped at the sight of the place, even more decorated than usual. Many folks rushed over to offer congratulations and tell Rory and Jess how great they looked. They had both just recently gotten used to being the older people at a party, as the generations before them sadly passed away. Taylor, Miss Patty, Reverend Skinner, they were all gone now, along with Mrs Rossini and both of Rory’s grandparents. Thank goodness for all the kids, now grown up and willing to continue all the crazy traditions of the town Rory and Jess had long called home. Stars Hollow wouldn’t be Stars Hollow without a certain amount of wacky baked into it.

“Uncle Jack!” yelled Aimee, racing to the door when she spotted the latest arrival.

Rory smiled. The grandkids were always thrilled to see Jack, and he really was just the greatest uncle to them. She worried about him and Jaime at first, especially when they told her and Jess that they didn’t plan on having children of their own. Rory had just presumed that more grandkids would come from her son, but Jaime had declared she was not the motherly type (she left all that to Martha, and Davey’s wife, Shanay) and Jack agreed that he was fine with not having kids. Rory feared it was a sacrifice he would live to regret, but he never had. He was so happy now, anyone could see it. A happy family made for a happy Rory, and a happy Jess by default. Everything was good right now, better than good, Rory thought, as she looked to the door once again.

“Hey, about time you got here!” said Jess loudly, noticing the same thing his wife had now.

Lorelai walked in with all the purpose of a woman thirty years younger than her age, beside a familiar young woman pushing a wheelchair.

“You see how fast you are when you’re my age!” said Luke, trying for grumpy but unable to keep from smiling as Joey pushed his chair on over. “Hello, nephew.”

“Good to see you, Uncle Luke,” said Jess genuinely, leaning down to hug the older man.

Honestly, he was more than glad to see the guy after all his health problems lately. It was practically a miracle he was still here. Jess wasn’t sure what he would do when the day came that Luke wasn’t around anymore. He hoped not to get to that day for a while yet. It was quite a skill his uncle had to still make him feel like a seventeen-year-old sometimes after all these years. He really didn’t want to lose that.

“How’s it going, Joey?” he asked his niece then.

“It’s goin’,” she said with a smirk that Jess well recalled from his own teenage years. “Did my dad get here yet?” she checked.

“I haven’t seen him,” said Rory, coming over to greet her mom and Luke with hugs and kisses, “but he promisd he was coming, so I’m sure he’ll show up soon.” 

Joey nodded, tucking her dark hair behind her ear and quickly excusing herself from the scene.

She was only nineteen and looked so much like her mother. Despite all attempts to include her in the family in every possible way, she did always seem like the extra wheel. It was only her Grandpa Luke that seemed to inspire her softer side. Everybody else got attitude and the hard-as-nails exterior much of the time. The product of a teenage pregnancy that didn’t turn out quite so well as Lorelai or Rory’s adventures with that particular situation, she had grown up with Tara, seeing Billy only on weekends and some holidays. The whole situation had always been rocky at best.

“I just always feel like there’s something else I should be saying to her or doing for her,” said Rory sadly.

“I know,” Lorelai agreed, “but hey, no long faces tonight, babe. This is a happy occasion!”

Jess smiled maybe even wider than Rory. After all this time, he still never tired of hearing Lorelai describe anything about his relationship with Rory as ‘happy’ or in any way good. When he thought back to how they started in the beginning, it was amazing how close everyone was now.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” said a voice then, and all eyes turned to the make-shift stage where Kwan was stood, holding the microphone in his hands. “We’d like to thank you all for coming to this celebration for the Ruby Wedding Anniversary for Rory and Jess. Thats forty years, guys!” he told anyone who didn’t know.

A general cheer went up and Rory blushed terribly, hiding her face in Jess’ shoulder, just as she always had in such moments.

“So, I got talking to my folks about the kind of music that Rory and Jess were into back in the day. As you all know, nobody knows or remembers music like Lane and Zach Van Gerbig, so they helped me to find the perfect song, which we would like to perform for you now. Ladies and gentlemen, for one night only, the collective stylings of Hep Alien, Anarchy’s Child, and Sharp Panik!”

“Oh my God!” Rory gasped as she watched far too many people crowding the stage, picking up their instruments to begin playing.

There was Lane, Zach, and Brian, three of the original members of Hep Alien, plus Dax, Kwan and Shelley from Anarchy’s Child (the latter two now having been together ten years; his first marrage, her second), and finally the third generation of rock band-mates that were part of the family, namely Steve’s daughter, Abigail, Shelley’s son, Kurt, and Abi’s friend, Jenn.

“What are they going to play?” asked Rory, looking to her mom.

“Don’t ask me, hon,” said Lorelai, hands raised in mock surrender. “This part had nothing to do with me.”

Rory and Jess both looked towards the stage and cracked up at the same time when the collective band broke into a class rock tune they both recognised.

“The Clash?” said Jess, looking to Rory.

“I guess Lane has a better memory than even I thought. I must have told her about The Guns of Brixton thing, that day at the diner when I was tutoring you. You remember?”

“Always,” said Jess, meeting her eyes. “Come on.”

“Jess, we’re not dancing to The Clash. At our age? Are you crazy?”

“Crazy about you,” he said definitely, pulling her forward and into his arms.

Rory giggled like the teenager she hadn’t been in decades and it was music to her husband’s ears that far outdid even the large rock band’s loud playing. All this time, all these years, all the crazy times, all the family members that had built up around them, by blood and not. It was amazing.

“We’ve had a pretty good life so far, Mrs Mariano,” said Jess, holding his wife close as he could and slow-dancing with her despite the raucous musical accompaniment - no-one seemed to care.

“I plan on having a lot more of it yet, Mr Mariano,” Rory countered. “Here’s to another decade, or two,” she said with a large smile.

“I’ll agree to that,” he assured her, leaning in to kiss her sweetly. “I love you, Rory. Always.”

“I love you too, Jess. Forever.”


End file.
